This seems to be a case of industry versus academia, with industry quashing the sole academic option:<p>The COAI opposed the national standard, arguing that the 5Gi ecosystem is yet to be developed, validated and tested, and would result in technology fragmentation. In a series of letters to the telecom department, COAI said that any mandate to such standard may put the consumer at a burden since sufficient options are not available for device ecosystem, and would put an additional burden to telecom carriers that may lead to a further delay in rolling out 5G in the country.<p>On the other hand, the Indian academia, led by IIT Madras director Bhasker Ramamurthy, advocated that 5Gi standards should be made mandatory for Indian telecom service providers.