Jio has already deployed its 5G service in 6,258 cities across 36 states in India
Indian operator Reliance Jio Infocomm announced that it has completed the nationwide deployment of its 5G service ahead of schedule.
In a release, the telco said that it has completed its minimum roll-out obligations in each of the 22 Licensed Service Areas (LSA), across each of the spectrum bands, ahead of the December 2023 date stipulated in the spectrum auction that concluded in August 2022.
Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, said: “We have completed minimum rollout obligations for the 5G spectrum allocated to us. Since receiving the 5G spectrum in August last year, our team has been working round the clock to ensure we keep up the pace of 5G roll-out that we had promised to enable pan-India 5G coverage by the end of this year.”
“This is one of the fastest 5G roll-outs of this scale globally and gives India a prominent position on the global 5G map,” Ambani said.
The executive also highlighted the benefits of mmWave spectrum, with the operator holding 1,000 megahertz in the 26 GHz band. “This can give enterprises looking to deploy emerging and innovative applications faster speeds and less delay than previous wireless networking technologies.”
Reliance Jio Infocomm has been rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture since October 2022. The telco has already deployed its 5G service in 6,258 cities across 36 states in India, according to the carrier’s website.
Reliance Jio had previously secured a mix of wireless spectrum for 5G across the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. Jio is the only Indian operator with the 700 MHz low-band spectrum.
Reliance Jio Infocomm was expected to sign a contract worth around $1.7 billion with Finnish vendor Nokia for the acquisition of 5G network equipment, according to a previous press report. This new 5G deal will be in addition to the 5G contract worth $2.1 billion with Swedish vendor Ericsson.
Last month, Reliance Jio Infocomm said it has created a dedicated 5G network slice for the provision of its 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) solution, dubbed Jio AirFiber.
“While we have the 5G rollout underway, we have created a very dedicated slice, because as you know we have a standalone 5G architecture that allows things like network slicing. We have created a dedicated network slice for home broadband in such a way that it does not conflict with the mobility capacity that we are also rolling out,” the carrier’s president Kiran Thomas said during a recent conference call with investors.
“In a way, we have created two lanes in our 5G highway, one dedicated for the home rollout, AirFiber, and one still continuing to serve our 5G mobile customers,” Thomas said.
Jio plans to launch the AirFiber device in the coming months. The Indian telco aims to reach 100 million connected premises in India with its FWA offering.
