Back in December 2020 at India Mobile Congress 2020, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani revealed that the company was planning to roll out 5G service in India in the 2nd half of 2021. It seems the company is on the right track to meet the target,
In June, it was reported that the company has begun testing 5G in Mumbai. At that time, the company just installed 5G devices in the tech park for limited testing at company premises. The company also achieved 1.5Gbps speed in this initial testing. Now, we spotted 5G network devices (Antenna + 5G NR GNodeB) of Jio at a pole in the Marine Drive area of Mumbai. Any person with a 5G-enabled smartphone living around that area can enjoy Jio’s 5G network.
We already know that the company is using its own indigenously developed 5G equipment and technology for rolling out 5G network in India. The company has developed an end-to-end 5G stack including 5G radio and core network solutions.
The company has already applied for trials in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Gujarat. Now when 5G trials are live in Mumbai, we can expect the same in other cities.
DOT allocated a 5G trial spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz bands to telecom operators in India. Airtel began testing 5G trial network in Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub. It has also been allotted a 5G trial spectrum in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.
Telecom department had also asked Indian telcos to also conduct trials in rural and semi-urban areas. So, the benefit of 5G is not confined only to urban areas.
We still don’t know when the 5G network will be ready for the general public. Smartphone manufacturers are already launching 5G smartphones even if the network is not available.
