Nokia is not only set to make a comeback in the smartphone market with its 3310, Nokia 3 and 5, the Finnish giant is also planning to bring 5G network in India.

According to an ET report, Nokia has signed a memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with Indian telecom giants Airtel and BSNL. Nokia during the Mobile World Congress 2017 had stated that it would expand their collaborative technology partnership to work on 5G technology standard and management of connected devices.

Thoughts behind these MoUs would be to introduce 5G here, and what are the steps required for the same, besides identifying applications to define the target segment, which will lead to a complete 5G strategy for telcos," Sanjay Malik, head of India market at Nokia, told ET.

He said that this was only an introductory phase as the commercial roll out of the 5G connectivity is expected to take place during 2019-2020.

Also Read: Reliance Jio to bring 5G to India with Samsung

"After 4G, the future is 5G and IoT, which is useful in the concept such as smart cities... The MoU will help BSNL to draw a framework for transition from the current network to futuristic 5G network," BSNL Chairman Anupam Shrivastava earlier had told PTI.

Nokia is also setting up an experience centre in Bengaluru to try to better understand the stakeholder requirements for 5G in India.

It was previously reported that Nokia will also work with BSNL by sharing 5G technology concepts, new product launches and innovations available in the public domain that demonstrate possibilities of 5G, and IoT for the Indian market.

Mobile World Congress this year also saw the partnership between Samsung and Reliance Jio to work on 5G connectivity in India.

Samsung stated that its innovative "I&G (Infill & Growth) Project" for Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd aims to help expand both the current network capacity as well as network coverage in India. The project will also help extend the Jio services in rural areas by increasing its reach to over 90 per cent of the population.