Highlights:
- Airtel has announced it’s “5G ready” network
- Airtel claims its 5G network will be 10x faster compared to existing technologies.
- It is the first telecommunication in India to successfully deliver live 5G service” over a commercial network in Hyderabad.
Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest providers of telecom networks, today announced its “5G Ready network.” It has also become the first telco to reveal its live 5G service in the world. In order to demonstrate its 5G service in Hyderabad, Airtel used its current spectrum in the 1800 MHz band via the NSA (Non-Stand Alone) network technology.
In a report, Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO, Bharti Airtel, said:
I am very proud of our engineers who have worked tirelessly to showcase this incredible capability in Tech City, Hyderabad today. Every one of our investments is future-proofed as this game-changing test in Hyderabad proves. With Airtel being the first operator to demonstrate this capability, we have shown again that we have always been the first in India to pioneer new technologies in our quest for empowering Indians everywhere.
Although it has not detailed its 5G rollout plans, Airtel says that once it gets sufficient spectrum from the government, it will “immediately roll out 5G services” in the country. Compared to current network technologies, it also says its 5G service can provide 10x speeds, 10x latency, and 100x concurrency.
Although Airtel will say that its network is “5G Ready,” it is still likely that Reliance Jio will be the first in the country to launch commercial 5G services. Unlike Airtel, which has to pay the Indian Department of Telecom over $25,900 crore ($3.5 billion) AGR dues, Reliance Jio has enough capital to invest in 5G. The carrier has attracted significant investments, including Google and Facebook, from many big tech firms.
