Airtel beats Reliance Jio, becomes first company to launch 5G services in India

Bharti Airtel has become the first telecom company to launch 5G services in India, defeating Reliance Jio. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G services in India on Saturday, October 1. Speaking at the launch event, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said that Airtel's 5G service will be available from Saturday, October 1 itself, in eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Bangalore. He further informed that Airtel will roll out 5G services in several cities across the country by March 2023 and across India by March 2024.

While, Reliance Jio will roll out 5G services offering ultra high-speed internet connectivity across multiple key cities, including metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, by Diwali and to every part of the country by December 2023. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani also promised affordable 5G services.

5G technology is expected to deliver ten times better download speed than that of 4G and up to three times greater spectrum efficiency. Here is all you need to know about the Airtel's 5G services:

What are the cities where Airtel will roll out 5G services first?

Airtel's 5G service will be available in eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Bangalore. According to a senior company official, the 5G services are also being launched in Chennai, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Siliguri.

Airtel 5G services tariff plans

According to a senior company official, Airtel 5G services will be available at existing 4G rates and a new tariff for 5G will be announced after some time, as per a report by PTI.

Airtel 5G services: What are the equipment required

As per a report by PTI, Bharti Airtel Chief Technology Officer Randeep Singh Sekhon has said that people need to have 5G phones to access the service.

Airtel 5G services: Other updates

Bharti Airtel had placed the order for 5G gear with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung immediately after the auctions were over. Also as per a PTI report, Airtel recently acquired 19,867.8 MHZ spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands. The company acquired spectrum worth Rs. 43,084 crore in the just-concluded auction.