The Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID) at IISc Bengaluru, the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi, and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) have signed a landmark collaboration agreement to create and support a production-quality open-source codebase for the development of 5G, 5G Advanced, and 6G communication networks.
The initiative is backed by seed funding from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and builds on the Indian Open-Source Platform for End-to-End 5G Network (IOS-5GN). It has laid the foundation for the Indian Open-Source Platform for Mobile Communication Networks (IOS-MCN), an academia-industry consortium aimed at accelerating indigenous 5G and future technology development. FSID, FITT, and C-DAC serve as “Strategic Partners,” with 16 other organizations from the R&D, telecom, startup, and academic sectors as “Industry Partners.”
Under the agreement, the three core partners will pool their strengths in research, technology development, and commercialization to jointly lead the IOS-MCN Operating Committee. This committee will oversee project execution, technical direction, partner engagement, and administrative operations.
The central goal of the IOS-MCN initiative is to develop a fully open-source, production-grade mobile network stack that aligns with global 3GPP and O-RAN standards. The consortium aims to foster a collaborative environment where academia, startups, and telecom companies can co-develop and adopt open-source 5G and next-gen telecom solutions.
The Governing Board of IOS-MCN, composed of strategic and industry partners such as CDOT, Tejas Networks, and Simnovus, officially convened on February 24, 2025. A distributed team of over 70 technical experts is currently working on the IOS-MCN codebase.
On January 31, 2025, the consortium achieved a major milestone with the release of IOS-MCN Agartala v0.1.0. The release includes Open RAN-compliant radio access network software, a service orchestration framework, and a 5G CORE—all tested successfully with two “Made in India” ORAN-compliant radio units developed by VVDN and Lekha Wireless. The system has demonstrated downlink data rates of 600–700 Mbps and latency of under 10 milliseconds using commercial mobile devices.
The IOS-MCN Secretariat is led by Pamela Kumar (Director General) and Usha Padmini (Head of Technology Office), bringing extensive leadership experience to guide the initiative.
Leadership Commentary:
Prof. Balan Gurumoorthy, Director of FSID, stated: “The partnership will drive impactful innovation, bridging academia and industry to accelerate next-generation telecom solutions.”
Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, Managing Director of FITT, said: “This collaboration marks a significant step towards self-reliance in telecom infrastructure. By leveraging open-source technologies, we aim to create cost-effective and globally competitive 5G and 6G solutions.”
Dr. Kalai Selvan A, Director and Centre Head of C-DAC (T), noted: “Through this initiative, we are laying the foundation for an open, scalable, and resilient mobile communication network, fostering indigenous R&D and reducing reliance on proprietary technologies.”
This collaboration reinforces India’s commitment to building secure, open, and scalable telecom infrastructure, with the IOS-MCN consortium poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of global mobile networks.
Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat
Do Follow: The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News LinkedIn Account | The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News Facebook | The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News Youtube | The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News Twitter |The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News Whatsapp Channel | The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News Instagram
About us:
The Mainstream formerly known as CIO News is a premier platform dedicated to delivering latest news, updates, and insights from the tech industry. With its strong foundation of intellectual property and thought leadership, the platform is well-positioned to stay ahead of the curve and lead conversations about how technology shapes our world. From its early days as CIO News to its rebranding as The Mainstream on November 28, 2024, it has been expanding its global reach, targeting key markets in the Middle East & Africa, ASEAN, the USA, and the UK. The Mainstream is a vision to put technology at the center of every conversation, inspiring professionals and organizations to embrace the future of tech.
