Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it has crossed one million customers on 5G network within 30 days of its commercial launch, while the network is being built.
Earlier, Airtel had announced the phased launch of its 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi.
According to Airtel, services in these cities are being rolled out in a phased manner as the company completes the construction and roll-out of its network.
“Bharti Airtel today announced that it has crossed the 1 million unique 5G user mark on its network. The company achieved this feat in less than 30 days of its commercial launch, even as the network is being built,” the company said in a statement.
Bharti Airtel Chief Technology Officer Randeep Sekhon said these are early days but the customer response has been “very encouraging”.
Mr Sekhon said, “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. “
The senior Airtel executive said: “We will continue to grow our network to connect the entire country.” Bharti Airtel Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Gopal Vittal had said during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday that all 5G enabled smartphones except Apple’s iPhone will start supporting Airtel 5G services by the middle of this month.
Mr. Vittal had said that Apple would release the software update in the first week of November and that all its devices should support the company’s 5G services by mid-December.
He said Airtel is providing 5G services at 4G rates, but a decision on pricing of next generation services is likely to be taken in the next 6-9 months.
“Samsung… I think there are 27 models of 5G. 16 models are already ready and capable. Rest will be from 10-12 November. All 17 models of OnePlus will work on our network. Vivo all 34 models, realme All 34 models will work on our network. All 33 models of Xiaomi and all 14 models of Oppo will work. Apple has 13 models. They (software update) will be released around first week of November and they will be complete by mid-December Will be ready in kind,” Mr. Vithal had informed.
According to market research firm IDC, 51 million 5G smartphones were shipped from the first half of 2020 to 2022 and they are expected to cross 50% market share by 2023.
However, in the past weeks, many 5G smartphones were unable to access 5G services due to a lack of compatibility between networks and mobile phones.
Mr Vithal said that the company expects to cover all cities and major rural areas of urban India by March 2024.
As of September 2022, Airtel’s mobile services India subscriber base stood at 327 million, according to the company’s second quarter report.
“4G data subscribers account for 17.8 million year-on-year and 5 million quarter-on-quarter, 64% of the overall mobile subscriber base,” Airtel Q2 results statement said earlier this week.