In line with the R&D (research and development) focus of Tamil Nadu’s investment delegation to the US, telecom major Nokia is signing a MoU with the State government to expand its Fixed Networks R&D operations in Chennai, at an outlay of ₹450 crore, and create 100 jobs. The new R&D lab, which will come up at SIPCOT, Siruseri, is set to be one of the largest such labs for Nokia, globally.
A Memorandum of Understanding is set to be exchanged between Guidance Tamil Nadu and Nokia in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin and Industries Minister TRB Rajaa in San Francisco, California, US. The centre will help Nokia strengthen its innovations in 10G, 25G, 50G, and 100G PON, Fixed Wireless Access, MDU solutions, as well as access network and home controllers. The State government said it will provide Nokia with essential infrastructure, regulatory and policy support.
Nokia’s telecom equipment factory in Sriperumbudur is one of its largest, globally, and manufactures telecom infrastructure equipment for 4G/5G networks for both domestic and global markets. Nokia already has two R&D centres in India - in Bengaluru and Chennai.
Expanding TN’s network
“Tamil Nadu has evolved into a global destination of choice for R&D and technology services,” said Raaja.
“Nokia has been a long-standing partner in Tamil Nadu’s growth story, and it is a matter of pride for us that the new facility, the largest fixed network lab within Nokia and probably the whole world, will be in Chennai,” he said.
Tamil Nadu has been strengthening its position as a telecom R&D major with a slew of investments in recent years. In October last year, Swedish telecom major Ericsson deployed a 6G research and development team in Chennai. Further, a centre of excellence on 6G Quantum Communications was inaugurated at IIT-Madras Research Park to spearhead the development and deployment of 6G, last week. IIT Madras’ Pravartak Technologies also has a ComNet lab to test 5G networks.
The current expansion will see Nokia inching back to its heyday in Tamil Nadu. The telecom major was a key player in TN’s electronics manufacturing cluster back in 2014, when more than 50,000 employees at the Nokia SEZ at Sriperumbudur produced made-in-India Nokia mobile phones, which were used globally. But Nokia had to shut its plant in 2014 following a ₹21,000-crore tax case with the Income-Tax Department.