When will 5G launch in India and who will launch 5G services first?

5G is slated to roll out in India soon. But the million dollar question is when? While we do not have a definitive answer to this question, we are definitely inching close to the 5G launch in India. Recently, the top telecom companies of the country, including Vodafone Idea, Airtel as well as Reliance Jio participated in the ongoing 5G spectrum auction.

Back in 2021, the telecom companies, including Vodafone Idea, Airtel and even Reliance Jio conducted 5G trials in collaboration with various companies. The companies have already set up 5G trial sites in Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhinagar. But the rollout may not take place before 2023.

When will 5G launch in India?

Previously, the department of telecommunications had claimed that 5G services would be launched by the end of 2022. However, now Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said in an interview with ANI that 5G will be ready to deploy in March 2023.

5G services will be launched in 13 Indian cities, including Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhinagar.

Who will launch 5G services first?

It is not clear which one of the three telecom companies will launch the 5G services first but all the companies are expected to launch the services around the same time. That is primarily because the 5G trials were conducted by all the telecom companies in 2021.

As per reports, Jio, Airtel and even Vodafone have already set up their trial sites in the 13 cities that are expected to get 5G services. The reports further revealed that Airtel and Jio have claimed to be the first operators to roll out 5G services in India.

Airtel's Bharti Mittal has confirmed that the company’s 5G network is ready and it will roll out soon after the auction is completed. “Yes, you'll get faster speeds but they will be there. There is a desire of the government to start 5G soon, right? As soon as the recommendations come and auctions happen, within months I would say you will have early 5G networks coming up and Airtel has been getting ready for the same,” Mittal had told ET Telecom in an interview.

Jio, on the other hand, said that it has completed 5G coverage planning for over 1000 top cities across the country. The telecom company has said that it plans to roll out 5G in India in phases.

Also Read: | WhatsApp finally letting users react to messages with any emoji

Also Read: | Samsung Galaxy S23 series could launch with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC worldwide

Also Read: | Chromecast with Google TV launched in India, priced at Rs 6,399