Airtel 5G launch date in India, SIM, speed, trial, and everything else we know so far

Airtel’s 5G network trial in India is in full swing. The telco has extensively been putting the network’s capabilities and performance to test to make sure that it’s consumer-ready when the 5G services go live in the country. Airtel has been working alongside global brands such as Nokia and Ericsson, as well as domestic companies like Tata Group, for its 5G network. While Jio has claimed that it’ll be the first network to launch the full-fledged 5G services in India, it looks like Airtel 5G won’t be far behind. Here’s what we know about Airtel 5G launch in India, speed, trial, and spectrum so far.

Read more: Jio 5G launch plans, speed, applications, and everything else we know so far

Airtel 5G launch date in India

While there is no official announcement from the telco yet, the Airtel 5G launch in India is sure to happen this year. The telco has said that its 5G network is ready and rollout will begin within 2-3 months of the spectrum auction concluding. The spectrum auction is reportedly scheduled to take place in May. Based on that timeline, we can expect Airtel 5G launch in India by August. 

Per, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) notification 5G services will initially be available in 13 cities, including Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhi Nagar. Airtel, as well as Jio and Vi, have already set up 5G trial sites in these cities. The services will later be rolled out to other regions in the country. That said, the cellular network infrastructure may take at least a year or a year and a half more to fully develop.

Airtel would be using Tata Group’s ‘state-of-the-art’ O-RAN based Radio and NSA/SA Core technologies for made in India 5G. The telco has started the pilot programme of the technology.

Airtel 5G plans

As for the Airtel 5G tariffs, they could be on par with 4G plans. While the telco hasn’t revealed the exact details yet, its CTO Randeep Sekhon has said, “If you see globally, there’s not a major difference between 5G and 4G tariffs. We expect 5G plans in India to be similar to 4G tariffs.”

Airtel 5G SIM

Airtel 5G SIMs are not available in the market, and it won’t be until the launch of the service in the country. Having said that, it seems that you won’t need a 5G SIM to enjoy high-speed internet. In the countries where 5G has already been announced, the services are compatible with 4G LTE SIMs as well. This will stay true until standalone 5G has been achieved, which isn’t going to happen anytime soon. To use 5G, however, you need to have a compatible device, with an active 5G plan.

Airtel 5G speed

The Airtel 5G speed has been around 1,000Mbps during the trials conducted by the telco in Gurugram and Mumbai. However, in Hyderabad, the network managed to hit peak speeds of 3Gbps (3,000Mbps), which is three times faster than Jio’s 5G trial, allowing users to download a full-length movie in a matter of seconds. While this is significantly faster than the 4G network speed, we have to bear in mind that the network was completely bereft of other users during the test, and the real-world experience may vary.

Airtel has said that one can expect real-world speeds in a home setting to be anywhere between 200Mbps to 300Mbps on 5G. This is around 10 times faster than the speed that you currently get on 4G.

Airtel 5G trial

The Airtel 5G trial network is now live in Cyber Hub in Gurugram, Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel in Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Airtel’s next destination for 5G trials is said to be Kolkata. However, Airtel users cannot experience the 5G network yet even if they have a compatible smartphone. The government’s rules currently do not allow testing with end-users. Additionally, the devices that operators use for such trials have special software.

Airtel 5G spectrum

The government is yet to conduct a 5G spectrum auction in India, but the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has allocated service providers such as Airtel some bandwidth to conduct trials. The telco is using 3,500Mhz bands to conduct 5G trials in Gurugram and Mumbai, while in Hyderabad, it demonstrated its 5G network using liberalised spectrum in the 1800MHz band through the sub-6GHz Non-Standalone (NSA) network technology. Airtel has also reportedly been allocated 28 GHz and 700 MHz bands for the trial, and its equipment is said to be compatible with 2100/2300MHz and sub-GHz bands (800/900 MHz).

The operator has claimed that it has the capability to operate its 5G network over existing 4G technology through software upgrades. Airtel also believes, if given permission, it could operate its 5G and 4G networks dynamically within the same spectrum block and deploy 5G in a matter of months. “The moment we receive government approvals, and we have the right spectrum bands and in adequate quantities, we’ll be able to roll this [5G] out immediately,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel earlier this year.

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