It has been approximately 9 months since the announcement of 5G services in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated this new era of network connectivity during the India Mobile Congress on October 1, 2022. While the plan is to extend 5G services through all major network providers but currently only Airtel and Jio offer 5G networks in the country. Since then, both Airtel and Jio have been gradually making 5G connectivity available in various cities across the country. Vodafone Idea has not yet provided any updates on 5G services and has plans to update these services, the grand merger between Vodafone & Idea is said to be the reason for this delay. Airtel's 5G Plus service operates on the existing 4G infrastructure while Jio's True 5G network is a standalone network.
Jio’s 5G is now accessible in 406 cities across India and Airtel’s 5G Plus is also available in over 500 cities. Airtel is generously providing eligible users with unlimited 5G data for free.
Multiple 5G bands which include high and low frequency bands are being utilized in India.
Several Tier 1 cities in India already have 5G support and others are expected to receive it in the coming months. Tier II and Tier III regions will get 5G access by 2024.
As per the PM, the entire country is expected to have 5G coverage till 2024 including the rural areas.
Airtel's 5G is currently available in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and more. The company plans to extend 5G services to all major cities by the end of 2023.
Jio's 5G is available in cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. They recently announced its availability in all 33 district headquarters in Gujarat.
While there are many 5G smartphones in the market capable of running the network but not all the devices support 5G bands in India. Apple is primarily the only handset which can fully support the 5G Features as per the latest iOS 16 update, while Samsung is also following the lead with supporting most of the 5G features with their recent updates. The Software updates for 5G compatibility on devices many vary and are still being rolled out.
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