Airtel to launch 5G services this month, CEO spells out 2024 vision

“We intend to launch 5G starting August and extend to a Pan India roll out very soon. By March 2024 we believe we will be able to cover every town and key rural areas as well with 5G,” Airtel's managing director (MD) and chief executive office (CEO) Gopal Vittal said.

Bharati Airtel is also set to launch 5G services this month with the telecom giant hoping to cover every town and key rural areas of the country with the services by March 2024.

Recently, Airtel reported an over five-fold rise in its consolidated profit to ₹1,607 crore for the first quarter that ended June 30. (Reuters)

Managing director (MD) and chief executive office (CEO) Gopal Vittal said detailed rollout plans for 5,000 towns in India are completely in place.

“We intend to launch 5G starting August and extend to a Pan India roll out very soon. By March 2024 we believe we will be able to cover every town and key rural areas as well with 5G,” Vittal said, news agency PTI reported.

"In fact, detailed network rollout plans for 5,000 towns in India are completely in place. This will be one of the biggest rollouts in our history," he added.

In the recently concluded 5G spectrum auction where Reliance Jio emerged as the top bidder, Airtel acquired 19,867.8 MHz frequencies by securing a pan-India footprint of 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands and select purchase of radio waves in the low and mid-band spectrum for a total consideration of ₹43,040 crore.

Vittal further said Airtel's expenditure will remain around the existing levels and played down the need for buying premium spectrum in the 700 megahertz band.

“Our competition does not have such a large mid-band spectrum. Do remember that if we did not have this large chunk of precious mid-band spectrum we would have had no choice but to buy expensive 700 Mhz spectrum,” the CEO said.

"And once we had bought it we would have had to deploy large power guzzling radios on this band. Not only would the cost have been higher, but it would also have led to more carbon emissions," he added.

The network deployment in the 700 Mhz band gave no additional coverage compared to the 900 Mhz spectrum band that Airtel had, Vittal said.

He added non-standalone (NSA) 5G networks – supported by 4G core infrastructure – had more benefits compared to standalone 5G networks because of wider coverage and more devices available to access the network.

A few days ago, Vittal said Airtel would be able to deliver the best 5G experience in India in terms of coverage, speeds and latency. “5G technology is the revolution that can alter India’s manufacturing, services and several other sectors,” he added.

Recently, Airtel reported an over five-fold rise in its consolidated profit to ₹1,607 crore for the first quarter that ended June 30.

(With PTI inputs)