Airtel Launches Jio’s first 5G READY network in Hyderabad

Airtel announced on Thursday that the company has become the first telecom company to successfully launch the 5G service on the commercial network. The company shared a video of the live demo performed in Hyderabad. Targeting Reliance Jio, the New Delhi-based telecom company said that it has simultaneously operated 5G and 4G on the existing spectrum with 1800MHz band through non-standalone (NSA) network technology. The company teased Airtel 5G to give 10 times more speed to the existing network technology.

Airtel worked with its device partner Ericsson to enable this new experience on existing technology. The operator claimed that it has the ability to run a 5G network in mid-band on the existing spectrum. The company says that it can offer 5G networks at the 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2300MHz frequencies as well as the sub-GHz bands available at 800MHz and 900MHz.

Airtel said that it can dynamically run its 5G and 4G networks within the same spectrum block if allowed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and will also be ready to roll out 5G in a few months. However, the operator did not provide an exact timeline on the commercial rollout of its 5G network in the country.

For the initial performance of 5G, Airtel used Oppo Reno 5 Pro and Oppo Find X2 Pro smartphones. However, the operator said that more than 20 5G phones available for purchase in the country will be ready for the Airtel 5G. Existing users will not even need to upgrade their existing SIM card to get a 5G network experience on their compatible handsets.