Bharti Airtel’s unique 5G users cross the 1 million mark

“These are early days but the customer response has been very encouraging. Our network is being built every day, even as all 5G devices are now able to work on the Airtel 5G Plus network, with a few exceptions that should be done in the coming weeks as well. Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel said, “We will continue to grow our network with the vision of connecting the entire nation.

Airtel is rolling out 5G services in eight cities in a phased manner as the company continues to build out its network and complete the rollout.

The telco began 5G trials in 2021 and became the first operator to launch 5G commercially in the country. Customers with 5G smartphones will be able to use high-speed 5G on their existing data plans, which the company calls Airtel 5G Plus, until the rollout becomes more widespread.

The country’s second largest carrier’s chief executive officer Gopal Vittal on Tuesday said that Airtel will continue with 5G and 4G tariffs at existing levels for the next six to nine months after which it can take a call on fixing a separate tariff for 5G. He said that countries such as the US, Thailand and South Korea, where 5G is priced separately from 4G, have seen little growth compared to the past, with only a few customers of local telcos opting for premium 5G plans.

Many devices already support 5G. Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and RealMe devices are now ready to offer the carrier’s 5G services. Samsung and One Plus will also be fully ready in the next few weeks. Apple soon after. The same cannot be said with alternative technologies, where multiple devices will either provide a substandard experience or simply won’t work on 5G,” he added,

Vittal called for another round of tariff hikes for 5G rollout and digital adoption, cautioning against the low return on capital employed (ROCE) for the industry, 8% due to lower cost for consumers, which he said, was not sustainable. ,