Airtel ended 2024 with a total of 120 million 5G subscribers
Indian carrier Bharti Airtel ended last year with a 5G subscriber base of 120 million as it continued expanding its network coverage. During a recent earnings call, Bharti Airtel’s vice chairman and managing director, Gopal Vittal confirmed that Airtel has ceased investing in 4G capacity and is now fully focused on expanding its 5G network.
“With the ceasing of the big rollouts that we saw, we are not putting any investments in 4G capacity all we are doing is few more 5G radios as we expand and see more devices coming in. The places where capex continues to be deployed-one of the big components is transport,” he said.
The second-largest telecom provider in India attributed the rise in 5G users to the growing number of 5G smartphone shipments, which now make up over 80% of total smartphone sales. “We continue to get our fair share from growing 5G handset adoption,” said Vittal.
In the Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) segment, which delivers broadband services via Airtel’s 5G network, the company expanded its reach during the quarter and is now operational in over 2,000 cities.
Earlier this month, Airtel announced a partnership with Nokia and Qualcomm to facilitate the growth of 5G FWA and Wi-Fi solutions, aiming to extend high-speed internet access to millions across India. As part of this collaboration, Nokia will provide Airtel with its 5G FWA outdoor gateway receiver and Wi-Fi 6 access points, utilizing Qualcomm’s Modem-RF and Wi-Fi 6 chipsets. Airtel emphasized that deploying fixed wireless broadband through 5G networks is a crucial application of the technology in India, particularly given the country’s limited fiber penetration and rising demand for digital services.
Airtel also noted that it plans to deploy Nokia’s FastMile 5G outdoor receivers, which are designed for multi-dwelling units and can serve two households simultaneously, thereby lowering connection costs.
Airtel will also introduce Nokia’s Wi-Fi 6 access points in homes to improve indoor connectivity. This solution features intelligent mesh networking and self-optimizing capabilities. Nokia’s 5G FWA and Wi-Fi 6 access point devices will be manufactured in India and packaged using fully recyclable materials.
Airtel also highlighted the importance of strengthening its backbone network to support rising data consumption and network demands. “Developing a solid backbone is crucial because this will be required for all our capacities, whether it is broadband, B2B or the mobile business. The core network tends to be a small component of the capex and then there are other places where we deploy capital,” Vittal explained.
Airtel reported an overall customer base of approximately 414 million in India, with an additional 6.5 million smartphone users joining during the quarter. The number of smartphone users on 4G and 5G networks reached 270.2 million.
In November 2024, Nokia had secured a multi-year extension deal from Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities and states
Under the terms of this previous deal, Nokia will deploy equipment from its 5G AirScale portfolio including base stations, baseband units and the latest generation of Massive MIMO radios, all powered by its ReefShark System-on-Chip technology.
Airtel is currently using equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to provide 5G services.
Bharti Airtel previously confirmed that it has started re-farming its existing mid-band spectrum with the main aim of accommodating the growing traffic demand on its 5G network. To accommodate the growing number of customers migrating to its 5G network, Airtel said it is in the process of re-farming its mid-band spectrum to expand 5G services on its 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz and 2.3 GHz bands across India.
