5G sites installed in 714 districts of India
Indian telecom operators have already installed more than 300,000 5G mobile sites across the country within 10 months of launching the service, a local newspaper reported citing the country’s Union Telecommunications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Ta.
According to the report, 5G sites have been installed in 714 districts in India.
According to official data, 5G was installed on 100,000 sites within five months of launch and 200,000 sites within eight months.
Indian carrier Reliance Jio Infocomm announced last month that it had rolled out more than 115,000 sites with more than 690,000 5G cells across India. Jio said that the infrastructure deployed has enabled the company to provide 5G coverage in over 90% of India’s towns and cities.
The carrier is currently aiming to complete the 5G rollout before its original target of December 2023.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has been rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture since October 2022. According to the telco’s website, the telco has already rolled out his 5G services in 6,258 cities across 36 states in India.
Reliance Jio had earlier secured a mix of radio spectrum for 5G across 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. Jio is the only Indian operator with 700 MHz low-band spectrum.
Meanwhile, rival operator Bharti Airtel has already rolled out 5G in thousands of towns and cities across India. Airtel has chosen Non-Standalone Technology (NSA) for its 5G deployment.
Rival carrier Vodafone Idea recently confirmed that it has held “advanced discussions” with a number of vendors to define the final strategy for 5G rollout in India. In the carrier’s annual report, the company also said it has completed device testing for all major OEMs in its upcoming 5G mobile broadband network. The company has partnered with various OEMs to test the compatibility of its 5G terminals available in its 5G clusters in the cities of Delhi and Pune.
Vodafone previously said it was in loan talks with local banks to secure the funds needed to launch 5G.
The Indian government has also previously said that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) may launch 5G technology in March 2024. The government initially revealed that BSNL’s 5G network will be based on its NonStandalone (NSA) architecture.
India announced in June that BSNL had allocated a total of 890 billion rupees ($10.8 billion) for spectrum allocation to launch 4G and 5G services nationwide. The move will see the state-owned telco acquire spectrum in the 700 MHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands.
According to a government statement, with this spectrum allocation, BSNL will be able to provide 4G and 5G services across India, provide 4G coverage in rural areas under various connectivity projects, and provide fixed wireless access (FWA) services. It will be possible to provide services and frequencies to the private sector. network.
BSNL recently launched 4G services in selected areas of Punjab as part of an expanded field trial following a proof of concept (PoC) by a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium.
“The large-scale rollout of BSNL’s 4G network will begin from October and is expected to be completed within 12 months,” said a senior official from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
