It appears that Airtel is determined to stay ahead of Jio in the 5G battle. Jio is rolling out 5G SA (Standalone), which is going to cost more money and take longer. However, Jio’s 5G network has already expanded to over eight cities, including Nathdwara, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Varanasi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. Jio is only providing 5G in Nathdwara as a backup for the free public Wi-Fi; 5G is not yet a mobile network service. When it comes to rolling out 5G, Airtel has always been ahead of Jio. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur, and Bengaluru were the first eight cities Airtel served. The 5G services for two more cities, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, were nonetheless announced by Jio on Thursday. This resulted in an equal distribution of cities with 5G coverage between Airtel and Jio (8 cities each)
Airtel announced 5G in Panipat, a new city, to maintain its lead over Jio. Haryana’s Panipat is the first city in the region to get a 5G network from any provider. The action was taken by Airtel the same day Jio announced it would roll out 5G in two new towns. To maintain its lead over Jio, Airtel is introducing 5G networks. The telco is developing 5G NSA (non-standalone) networks because they can be set up more quickly than Jio’s 5G SA network.
The business sees 5G as a chance to gain additional subscribers shortly. As a result, Airtel would like to use 5G to reach other cities that Jio hasn’t yet covered. More cities may receive 5G coverage in the following weeks. Airtel hopes to have its 5G networks in place in the majority of India’s major cities and urban areas by the end of March 2023.
If they already have the 4G Airtel SIM, Panipat customers do not need to update their SIMs. Furthermore, there are no additional 5G tariffs. You may experience how powerful Airtel’s 5G networks are if you have a 5G-capable smartphone that supports Airtel’s 5G and is inside the network’s coverage area. In comparison to 4G networks, the telco claims that its 5G networks are 20 to 30 times faster. A few days ago, Airtel also revealed that within 30 days of its launch, its 5G networks had been used by more than a million different people.