Last year, Reliance Jio Infocomm announced 5G contracts with Nordic vendors Ericsson and Nokia
Indian operator Reliance Jio Infocomm announced the launch of 5G services across 20 cities, taking the total of towns and cities covered by its 5G infrastructure to 277, the telco said in a release.
The cities where the telco has recently launched its 5G offering are Faizabad, Firozabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bongaigaon, North Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Mormugao, Diu, Gandhidham, Bokaro Steel City, Deoghar, Hazaribag, Raichur, Satna, Chandrapur, Ichalkaranji and Thoubal.
“With the launch of Jio’s True 5G services, consumers of the region will get infinite growth opportunities in the areas of e-governance, education, automation, artificial intelligence, gaming, healthcare, agriculture, IT and SMEs,” the telco said.
Earlier this month, Reliance Jio announced the launch of its 5G services across all six states of the North-East circle. The telco’s 5G offering was activated in the cities of Shillong, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala, Itanagar, Kohima and Dimapur.
By December 2023, Jio True 5G services will be made available in every town and city of the North-Eastern states, the carrier said.
Jio is offering the 5G connectivity on an invitational basis, with users living in 5G-enabled cities who have 5G compatible smartphones receiving invitations.
The telco had initially announced the launch of the beta trial of its 5G services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi in October. Jio is offering 5G through a Standalone network architecture.
Last year, Reliance Jio Infocomm announced 5G contracts with Nordic vendors Ericsson and Nokia. The deal with Ericsson marked the first partnership between Jio and Ericsson for Radio Access Network deployment in the country.
Ericsson said that its energy-efficient 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) products and solutions and E-band microwave mobile transport solutions will be deployed in Jio’s 5G network.
Meanwhile, Nokia said that it has been selected as a major supplier by Reliance Jio to supply 5G Radio Access Network equipment from its AirScale portfolio countrywide in a multi-year deal.
Reliance Jio had previously secured a mix of wireless spectrum for 5G across 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz bands. Jio is the only operator with the 700 MHz low-band spectrum.
Rival operator Bharti Airtel aims to provide 5G services in 300 cities across the country by March 2024, the company’s CEO Gopal Vittal recently said.
Airtel is currently using equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to provide 5G services. The Indian operator had secured a total of 19,800 megahertz of spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands in a recent auction carried out by the Indian government.
