Indian firm makes electronic chip to help curb call drop, facilitate 5G

“I am also told that this broadband-broadcast convergence technology has great potential to minimise or eliminate call quality issues faced by telecom operators today,” Sinha said.

Saankhya Labs co-founder and CEO Parag Naik said the chipset will help in separating video content from a mobile network and hence reduce the load on the spectrum for improving call quality.

Saankhya’s Pruthvi-3 chipset will facilitate direct transmission of video on mobile phones and can also help convert an Android-based smartphone into a satellite phone.

The company expects to launch its chipset-based mobile phone accessories in the form of a dongle and mobile phones within a couple of years, Naik said.

“Semiconductor technology takes time in maturing and adoption. Original design manufacturers will incorporate our chipsets into various products. We will try for getting certain standards based on our technology incorporated in 5G services. Our chipsets are 30 percent more efficient in output compared to our nearest competitor and 50 percent cheaper too,” he said.

The company already has clients in the US and China and bagged orders to supply 5 million chipsets for various kinds of devices.

“We are looking at 50 percent year-on-year growth in business. In this financial year, we are expecting sales of around $14-15 million (Rs 98-105 crore). We have advance orders for supplying 5 million chipsets to companies in the US that they will use in tablets (PCs), television gateways etc. This order will be completed by the first quarter of 2020,” Naik said.

Saankhya Labs has started a pilot for rural broadband services in Scotland and Africa and received a request for the project in the Philippines, Brazil and the US.

“We are in talks with an Indian firm to start rural broadband trials in the country,” Naik said.

He said that in the next two years TV gateways, rural broadband technology, satellite communications and defence will be the main contributor to the business.