Technology
Airtel takes challenging Jio by launching a 5G trial network that offers speeds of over 1Gbps
According to Gadgets 360, Bharti Airtel has launched its 5G trial network in Gurugram barely over a month after the government approved telecom providers in India to conduct experiments on the next-generation cellular network technology. The telecom is offering a 5G network with a maximum speed of over 1 gigabit per second. The testing is now taking place at a facility that operates in the 3500MHz range. Airtel showed its 5G network earlier this year utilizing liberalized airwaves in the 1800MHz band.
According to a person acquainted with the situation, the 5G experimental network is presently operational at Gurugram's Cyber Hub. The trial is being performed by Airtel in collaboration with Ericsson, a Swedish equipment manufacturer.
Following the initial experiment, Gadgets 360 has learned that Airtel is planning a similar test run in Mumbai in the coming days.
During the testing, Airtel is offering its 5G network at a speed of over 1Gbps. This is far quicker than what users may expect from a 4G network in the nation.
India is ranked 130 in the world for mobile Internet speeds, according to Ookla, with an average download speed of 12.81Mbps and an upload speed of 4.79Mbps.
Customers of Airtel will not be able to test the 5G network during the trial, even if they have a capable smartphone, because government regulations prohibit testing with end users. The devices used by operators for these trials also require specific software upgrades from their manufacturers in order to test the network before it goes live.
In May, the government approved Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea to begin their expected 5G testing in the nation alongside Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung as equipment providers. In Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, Airtel obtained 5G trial spectrum in the 3500MHz, 28GHz, and 700MHz bands.
In contrast to Airtel, Jio, the country's largest telecom provider by customer base, has yet to perform formal 5G testing in the nation. Last year, the Mumbai-based operator planned to test 5G at scale in conjunction with Qualcomm. It's also collaborating with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to make its telecom gear compatible with the country's 5G network.
Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, announced in December that Jio will launch 5G services in the second half of 2021.
In January, Airtel said that it has successfully demonstrated its 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad, making it the first telecom in the country to do so. The demonstration was carried out utilizing liberalized spectrum in the 1800MHz band and Non-Standalone (NSA) network technologies, according to the operator.
