Airtel to launch 5G service within a month in India: Gopal Vittal

One of the largest telecom operators in India, Bharti Airtel, is expected to launch 5G services in the country within a month. The service will be available in the key metro cities by the end of December 2022 and will cover urban India by the end of 2023.

“Within a few weeks, we will commence the launch of our next-generation technology, Airtel 5G. We expect to launch 5G services within a month. By December, we should have coverage in key metros. After that, we will expand rapidly to cover the entire country,” said Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel, in an email.

Customers will be able to know the availability of 5G services in their area or check if their smartphone is compatible with Airtel 5G services using the Airtel Thanks app. This feature on the Airtel Thanks app will roll out when the 5G services are launched. Further, customers do not require a new 5G SIM card to access 5G services.

“Airtel 5G will deliver dramatically higher speeds compared to a 4G network. It could be anywhere between 20 to 30 times the speed you get today. This will allow you to boot up an application or download a heavy file in no time. Airtel 5G will also enable differential quality for special requirements, something called network slicing,” Gopal Vittal added.

Airtel will use the 5G non-standalone (NSA) infrastructure with fall back to the 4G network when required. Users can enable 5G on a compatible device by opening the Setting app and tapping on the connections or mobile network, then choosing 5G network in addition to LTE.