Airtel had started the test trials of its 5G network in Gurugram in the past, and now trials are being conducted in the Lower Parel area of Mumbai.
Bharti Airtel begins 5G network trials in Mumbai with Nokia’s 5G Gear in Phoenix models.
It has been revealed that users got 1.2Gbps speed with ultra-low latency during 5G test trials. During the new network trial, Airtel gave upload speeds of up to 850Mbps.
A trial will be held in Kolkata soon.
ET Telecom gave information about this and said that soon Airtel would conduct similar trials in Kolkata. Earlier in January, Airtel became the first company to test the 5G service in India successfully.
The company did this test on a commercial network in Hyderabad on the 1800MHz band with NSA (non-standalone) network technology. Airtel has already started 5G trials in the Cyber Hub area of Gurugram.
The trial got permission in these cities.
Airtel has been given a spectrum by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for trials in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi. It has been told that a 5G trial spectrum has been given to Airtel 3500 MHz, 28 GHz and 700 MHz.Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have been allocated spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. Applicants telecom service providers include Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vi and MTNL.
Airtel leading the race for 5G
Reliance Jio, which brought 4G technology to India, had rapidly captured a significant market share, and now Airtel is giving it tough competition. It is believed that there will also be a tussle between Reliance Jio and Airtel regarding 5G technology. At present, testing 5G before Jio can be an early edge for Airtel as users rely on Airtel compared to Jio in terms of internet speed.
Partnership with Qualcomm
Telecom operator company Airtel has partnered with smartphone chip maker Qualcomm for a 5G network. After the partnership with Qualcomm, both the companies will work on multiple use cases of 5G.
This also includes creating 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) to better broadband connectivity to homes and businesses. Qualcomm and Airtel will work together on ‘cost-effective’ broadband services that will help reach the Internet in remote areas of India.
Use of Chinese equipment is not allowed
Different telecom service providers have partnered with various companies for equipment related to 5G technology. However, clear instructions have been given by the government that no telecom company will use Chinese brand-related equipment in communication technology.
In such a situation, companies are left with options like Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT. Reliance Jio is about to use its own equipment for the new 5G technology.