Vodafone Idea expects to begin rolling out commercial 5G services by March 2025 across 17 priority circles across the country
Indian carrier Vodafone Idea has initiated trials for its 5G services in India, according to local press reports.
The 5G trials are limited to 17 telecom circles and are not yet commercially available. This development follows a two-year delay since Vodafone Idea participated in the 2021 spectrum auctions, where rival operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm launched their 5G services soon after.
The cities included in the trial are Jaipur (Rajasthan), Karnal (Haryana), Kolkata (West Bengal), Thrikkakara, Kakkanad (Kerala), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh East), Agra (Uttar Pradesh West), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Siliguri (West Bengal), Patna (Bihar), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Jalandhar (Punjab), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Pune (Maharashtra) and Delhi.
The 5G trials by Vodafone Idea are accessible to both prepaid and postpaid customers and are operating on the 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum bands. The reports noted that there is no fixed timeline for a full-scale commercial rollout. However, Vodafone Idea aims to prioritize key cities like Delhi and Mumbai, with further expansion planned over time.
“We have successfully rolled out 5G services in accordance with [maintenance, repair, and operations] MRO guidelines. A full-scale launch to all users is part of our roadmap, and we will share more details at an appropriate time,” said a Vodafone Idea’s spokesperson.
Previous reports stated that Vodafone Idea expects to begin rolling out commercial 5G services by March 2025 across 17 priority circles across the country, starting with Delhi and Mumbai.
Vodafone Idea, the third-largest private telecom operator in India, also aims to reach at least 90% of India’s population with 4G coverage by June 2025, compared to current 77%
As part of its revival plan, Vodafone Idea had recently raised fresh funds to improve 4G coverage and roll out 5G to prevent further subscriber losses. Rival operators Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel already offer 5G services nationwide and operate an extensive 4G network.
The Indian telco, which is a joint venture between the U.K.’s Vodafone Group and India’s Aditya Birla Group would continue focusing on the 17 licensed areas or telecom circles for both 4G and 5G coverage, including roaming customers, the reports added.
Vodafone Idea had previously concluded different deals worth $3.6 billion with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung for the supply of network equipment over a period of three years. The Indian telco noted that the deal marks the first step towards the implementation of the company’s three-year capex plan of nearly $6.6 billion. The capex program is directed towards expanding the 4G population coverage from current 1.03 billion people to 1.2 billion people, launching 5G technology in key markets as well as network capacity expansion in line with data growth.
As part of the expansion plans, Vodafone Idea will concentrate on expanding and deploying 4G to improve network quality, provide more capacity and fully leverage its spectrum holdings to meet growing demand. The telco currently holds spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands.
