Vodafone Idea (Vi) 5G Speeds Reach 3.7Gbps on mmWave 5G Band During Trials in Pune

Last Updated on September 21, 2021 by Asif Iqbal Shaik

Indian telecom operators have been conducting 5G trials in different cities in the country. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had given a nod to various telecom operators to test their 5G networks on mid-band (3.2GHz to 3.67GHz), mmWave band (24.25GHz to 28.5GHz), and sub-6GHz band (700MHz) in May 2021. Airtel and Reliance Jio had already tested their 5G networks in different cities. In a recent development, Vodafone Idea (Vi) is joining the 5G testing race. The company has been testing its 5G network on the mmWave spectrum band in Gujarat and Pune. Vi claims to have achieved a peak speed of 3.7Gbps during its 5G trial.

According to the report published by Economics Times, Vodafone Idea (Vi) claims to have obtained the 3.7Gbps speed during its 5G network trial in Pune, Maharashtra. The company had deployed its 5G trial in a lab setup of an end-to-end captive network of Cloud Core, new generation Transport, and RAN (Radio Access Network). The telco claims to have recorded peak download speeds of up to 1.5Gbps in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar. Along with the traditional 3.5GHz 5G spectrum, DoT had allocated Vodafone Idea (Vi) with mmWave bands in the 26GHz spectrum.

Also Read: What Is 5G? Do You Really Need A 5G Smartphone In India Right Now?

Commenting on the 5G trial, Jagbir Singh, Vodafone Idea Limited CTO Said:

We are pleased with the speed and latency results in the initial stages of the 5G trials on the Govt allocated 5G spectrum bands. Having established a robust 4G network pan-India, delivering fastest 4G speeds and a 5G-ready network, we are now testing the NextGen 5G technology to be able to bring a truly digital experience for enterprises and consumers in India, in the future.

Apart from Vi, Airtel, and Jio had conducted 5G trials in a few cities. Airtel conducted the first 5G trial in India back in January 2021 in Hyderabad. During its first testing, Airtel used existing liberalized spectrum in the 1800MHz band through the NSA (Non-Standalone) network technology. Following the 5G trail in Hyderbad, Airtel also tested 5G in Gurgaon and Mumbai using Ericsson’s and Nokia equipment. Similarly, Reliance Jio conducted 5G trials in Mumbai using both mid-band and mmWave (high-band) spectrums with SA (Standalone) architecture. The Mukesh Ambani-led telco had conducted 5G trials in partnership with Qualcomm last year, where it managed to achieve download speeds of 1Gbps.