Airtel Shows the Feasibility of Its New 5G Network

Indian telecommunications giant, Bharti Airtel has said that it has become the country’s first telco to demonstrate live 5G service via a commercial network in Hyderabad’s Tech City. The company achieved this by using the 1800 MHz band through its Never Stand Alone (NSA) technology. 

Airtel reportedly managed to operate both 5G and 4G networks concurrently within the same spectrum block. The exercise goes to show that Airtel could be one of the country’s first carriers to have 5G networks up and running. 

It’s worth noting that industry rival Reliance Jio is also gearing up to bring 5G to Indian shores in the second half of 2021, so we may be in for an interesting year overall. 

Airtel said that its 5G network can deliver 10X speeds, 10X latency, 100X concurrency when compared to currently available technologies. The network operator further said that users in Hyderabad managed to download a full-length feature film within a few seconds using a 5G smartphone. 

Also read - Ambani: Jio 5G To Launch In India By The Second Half Of 2021

Given that 5G is still in its nascent phase in India, Airtel points out that wider connectivity across India can only be achieved when enough spectrum is available, adding that government approvals are required as well.  

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.”

“We believe India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation. To make that happen we need the eco system to come together – applications, devices and network innovation. We are more than ready to do our bit,” he added.

Read - Airtel Partners With BlueJeans To Offer India-Centric Video Conferencing Service