The state with the highest number of 5G base stations as of March 5 was Maharastra, with 15,394
Indian operators Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel have already deployed 102,215 5G base stations across the country, local press reported, citing data from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
According to the report, the state with the highest number of 5G base stations as of March 5 was Maharastra, with 15,394, followed by Uttar Pradesh (10,360), Tamil Nadu (8,791) and Gujarat (8,358).
DoT also reported that the number of 5G base stations in Delhi state had reached 7,843.
India will achieve 100% coverage for 5G services by the end of December 2024, the country’s communications minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, recently said.
The official said that telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm aim to complete their 5G network deployments within the next 15 months.
Indian operator Reliance Jio Infocomm announced recently that its 5G network reached 331 towns and cities across the country. 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.
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 recently said it had expanded its 5G footprint in the country with the launch of 5G in 125 cities. The Indian carrier said its “Airtel 5G Plus” service is now available to customers in over 265 cities in India.
In October 2022, Bharti Airtel launched 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi.
Airtel noted that its 5G Plus services will be available to customers in a phased manner as the company continues to construct its network across the country.
The carrier 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.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea is already in talks with a number of vendors to launch 5G while state-run carrier BSNL will probably launch 5G technology later this year, according to previous reports.
