Business Standard

Bharti Airtel steals a march on 5G rivals

Conducts live demonstrat­ion of service in Hyderabad

- MEGHA MANCHANDA New Delhi, 28 January

Exhibiting its 5G prowess, Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced that it had successful­ly conducted a live demonstrat­ion of 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.

The company said the full impact of the 5G experience would be available to Airtel customers when adequate spectrum is available and government approvals received.

Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti Airtel, said, “Every one of our investment­s is future proofed as this gamechangi­ng test in Hyderabad proves. With Airtel being the first operator to demonstrat­e this capability, we have shown again that we have always been the first in India to pioneer new technologi­es in our quest for empowering Indians everywhere.”

The demonstrat­ion in Hyderabad was conducted over an existing liberalise­d spectrum in the 1800 megahertz (MHZ) band.

Vittal said India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation and this would require the coming together of the ecosystem — applicatio­ns, devices, and network innovation. He added that Airtel was “more than ready” to do its bit.

The company seamlessly operated 5G and 4G concurrent­ly within the same spectrum block.

Though Airtel has started testing 5G services, the spectrum for this has been kept out of the auctions proposed to be held in March.

Earlier this month, the Department of Telecommun­ications (DOT) released a notice inviting applicatio­ns for spectrum auctions in seven bands — 700 MHZ, 800 MHZ, 900 MHZ, 1800 MHZ, 2100 MHZ, 2300 MHZ, and 2500 MHZ. The bidding is scheduled to begin on March 1. Last month, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal for the auction of 2,251.25 MHZ of spectrum worth ~3.92 trillion at the base price.

Telecom operators will need to submit applicatio­ns for participat­ing in the auction by February 5.

 ??  ?? Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti Airtel, said India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation
Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti Airtel, said India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation

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