Airtel 5G in India Teased, Promises To Offer 1Gbps Download Speeds

Last Updated on March 24, 2022 by Yash Jain

[Update]: Using the government-allocated 5G trial spectrum, Bharti Airtel has shown immersive video entertainment and India’s first 5G-powered Hologram at its Network Experience Center in Gurugram, India.

With more than 50 concurrent users watching the match on their 5G phones, the company was able to reach speeds of over 1Gbps and latency of under 20ms.

In addition, the company displayed a 5G-enabled hologram that could communicate with fans in real-time. Over the 3500Mhz band test spectrum, Ericsson 5G Radio in non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) modes were used to demonstrate the technology.

For the past couple of years, 5G in India has been the hot word in the telecom industry. Smartphone manufacturers have constantly been leveraging the 5G keyword and so far, there has been no confirmation as to when 5G will commercially be available in India. Things, however, appear to be changing pretty soon now, as the leading telcos in the country have started teasing the arrival of their respective 5G networks. Airtel has recently started advertising that its 5G network is coming soon to India via its social media handles.

Airtel 5G May Be Coming Sooner Than Expected

In a tweet posted on the company’s official Twitter handle, Airtel says “Something’s brewing and we can’t get more hyped than this! Watch this space for a game changer👀”, with the hashtag #FutureisAirtel5G, hinting at 5G in India. The company may release a 5G demo based on the spectrum given by the Department of Telecom.

While an exact date is unknown at the moment, we do expect the company to reveal more information as time passes by. Despite the fact that the telecom operator has not confirmed the debut of the 5G network in India, it is expected to happen this year.

Airtel previously had announced that its 5G services will be available in India soon. The corporation is presently awaiting the government’s spectrum auction and anticipates that its 5G networks will reach a larger percentage of the country in a year’s time.

In conjunction with Nokia, the company performed India’s first 5G testing in the 700MHz spectrum last year, achieving 1Gbps of internet speed and a low latency rate of 10 milliseconds.

In India, the government is yet to allocate a 5G spectrum through an auction. Airtel has been given 3,5000MHz of spectrum in the country to perform 5G trials. Furthermore, the operator equipment is said to be interoperable with the 2100/2300MHz and sub-GHz bands (800/900 MHz). The corporation has also stated that once the spectrum is allocated, it would be able to update its 4G networks to 5G, allowing for a speedier network deployment across the country.