The National Broadband Mission on Saturday posted on Twitter that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 5G services in India at the India Mobile Congress on October 1.
Next month, the prime minister will officially kick off the four-day event, during which leading telecom providers like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea will discuss their 5G plans for the nation and a wide range of other participants, such as gear manufacturers, tower providers, and ecosystem players, will present their 5G technologies and use cases.
Reliance to launch 5G in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai
The biggest carrier in India, Reliance Jio, intends to launch Jio 5G by this Diwali 2022 in several important locations, including the metropolises of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
"Every month, we intend to expand the Jio 5G footprint. We will bring Jio 5G to every town, taluka, and tehsil in our nation by December 2023, or less than 18 months from now," Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), stated that the company would invest 2 lakh crores to develop its pan-India 5G network.
According to Gopal Vittal, the chief executive of Bharti Airtel Ltd, the company is prepared to begin providing 5G services and will have them available throughout urban India by the end of 2023.
He further said that "We should have coverage in significant metropolitan areas by December. After that, we'll quickly grow to encompass the entire nation. "
Last month, Vittal told analysts that Airtel will roll out 5G services in 5000 towns and cities by March 2024.
Vodafone Idea has not yet announced its 5G launch plans, despite having purchased spectrum in 17 circles around the country at last month's auctions.
Earlier, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of electronics and information technology, had said that India is preparing for the launch of 5G services by October. Additionally, he had stated that after 5G services were launched, they would be expanded and should eventually cover the entire nation within the next two to three years.
