India is now a 5G-powered Nation. That said, the Network rollout and Digital Infrastructure deployments happen continuously as network maintenance and optimisation are never-ending in a telco business. In this analysis, let’s look into the launch timeline and how exactly 5G launch announcements are happening. We have three telcos to consider - Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea. Since there is no update from Vodafone Idea regarding the 5G deployment or timelines involved, we don’t have any details to compile and present. But as per the telco’s update, the company intends to launch 5G. So, we are left with only two telcos in the 5G Race for now. Let’s see what, when and how aspects of the 5G announcements made by Airtel and Jio so far.
Airtel 5G and Jio 5G Launch, Announcement Event Timeline
Airtel 5G and Jio 5G Launch Cities against Respective Circles Tabulated
Airtel 5G and Jio 5G Launch Cities Mapped
Visually Slide:
Airtel: Airtel 5G Cities and Their Strategic Importance Jio: Jio 5G has Reached these Cities
Differences Between Airtel 5G and Jio 5G Announcements
Airtel 5G Handset Compatibility:
Airtel: Airtel 5G Supported Smartphones as of Today 18 Smartphone brands support Airtel 5G Plus as of today. Approximately 179+ smartphones available in the market currently are Airtel 5G Plus compatible, and most of the devices already support Airtel 5G.
Jio 5G Handset Compatibility:
We could not find the 5G Handset compatibility page on the website at the time of this write-up. Jio’s Answer to handset compatibility from the website is as below: Most 5G devices will be compatible with Jio 5G network. Some devices might require a software upgrade which will directly get pushed to your phone from the device brands. Please ensure you install the update to make your phone 5G ready. We are working closely with all mobile device brands to ensure these updates are made available at the earliest so that you don’t miss out on the Jio True 5G experience. Changelog gatherings: This handset compatibility information is gathered from multiple sources and software update changelog and may not be right, exhaustive and not an officially confirmed list. Hence, for reference purposes only. OnePlus Nord, OnePlus 10 Pro, OnePlus 10T, OnePlus 10R, Nothing Phone 1. More smartphones supporting Jio 5G can be found here.
Advantages Claimed by Respective Telco:
Conclusion:
Airtel’s 5G launch and announcements are open and commercial. All you need is a 5G Network launch in your area, a compatible handset, and an existing data plan to enjoy the 5G service. Customers can enjoy 5G services on their existing data plans until the roll-out is complete. Jio’s 5G launch, for now, is an Express interest, invite-only based, Unlimited non-commercial launch. Handset compatibility and 5G Data tariff are not yet known. Users can enjoy Unlimited 5G data till the roll-out is complete for free. So far, in our experience, we have not come across any user who received a 5G Invite from Reliance Jio, and on social media, comments are filled with users waiting for the invite. It might be due to handset compatibility or whatsoever reasons. However, Jio claims lakhs of users are enjoying its 5G services across six cities as of November 10, 2022. We expect more cities to get added to the roll-out list in the coming days. Keep reading TelecomTalk as we track and analyse each and every development regarding 5G in India.
