Airtel becomes India's first telecom company to operate 5G network 

Bharti Airtel announced on January 28, 2021 that it has become the country's first telecom operator to successfully demonstrate live fifth-generation (5G) service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.

Airtel operated the 5G network over its existing liberalised spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band through the NSA (non-standalone) network technology. 

Using dynamic spectrum sharing, Airtel seamlessly operated 5G and 4G concurrently within the same spectrum block.

Key Highlights 

• Airtel 5G will be capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x latency and 100x concurrency when compared to existing technologies. 

•The users in Hyderabad were able to download a full-length movie in a matter of seconds on a 5G phone.

•The live demonstration has helped underlined the company's technology capabilities. 

When will 5G be made available to customers across the country?

The full impact of the 5G experience is expected to be made available to customers across the country when the adequate spectrum is available and required government approvals have been received.

Managing Director and CEO of Airtel, Gopal Vittal said that every one of their investments is future-proofed. He continued by saying that Airtel by being the first operator to demonstrate this capability, has shown again that it has always been the first in India to pioneer new technologies in their quest for empowering Indians everywhere.

He added by saying that India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation and to make that happen, they need the ecosystem to come together including applications, devices and network innovation.