The addition of new 5G base stations (BTS) has dropped sharply since May 2024, highlighting a significant decline in network expansion capital expenditures by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, India’s two telecom operators which are currently offering 5G services on a complimentary basis to 4G subscribers on select plans without any monetisation.
According to the Department of Telecommunications, the total number of deployed 5G BTS stands at 4,69,792 as of the end of February 2025. So far in 2025, 4,802 5G BTS have been deployed, compared to 52,776 in 2024 and 3,58,624 in 2023.
5G BTS Deployments in India
Indus Towers 5G Deployment
Telecom infrastructure provider Indus Towers (Indus), during its third-quarter earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2024, confirmed that the pace of 5G BTS deployment has slowed down. However, Indus also confirmed that it is deploying In-Building Solutions (IBS) and recorded its highest quarterly deployment, which includes 5G. This suggests that 5G deployments have shifted from outdoor to indoor venues at key locations.
During its Q3 earnings call, Airtel confirmed that 5G coverage expansion is continuing as planned. However, expenditure on radios, which constitute a major portion of Airtel’s capital expenditure, has decelerated significantly, and the company expects this trend to continue. Airtel stated that large-scale rollouts are complete, and the investment is now focused on deploying “a few more 5G radios” as the network expands.
According to earlier reports, Reliance Jio has slowed down its 5G expansion due to low capacity utilization and a delayed monetization timeline. According to its website, Jio claims that its 5G user base in India has now exceeded 170 million.
Finnish telecom equipment vendor Nokia recently announced that it has completed the delivery of 5G equipment to Vodafone Idea. By March 2025, Nokia will deliver over 60,000 technology sites and thousands of new 4G sites.
On March 7, BSNL India shared a video on the social platform X, in which Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya M Scindia spoke about BSNL’s future plans.
“For the first time in the world’s history, after three and a half to four decades, you have seen an Indian government-owned technology company, C-DoT, manufacture the core; a private sector company, Tejas Networks, manufacture the RAN (the towers that you see); and an Indian SI (system integrator), TCS, manage this entire process. Today, we are rolling out 100,000 towers of 4G, proven technology on BSNL networks. By June 2025, the 100,000 towers will be fully operational, and hopefully, starting this June, I will also be switching from 4G to 5G on those towers,” Scindia said in the video shared by BSNLCorporate.
India’s 5G Vision
“The launch of 5G is a golden-letter day in the history of the telecom sector in India,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Communications Minister, at the time of India’s 5G launch in 2022.
“New India will not remain as a mere consumer of technology, but India will play a very active role in the development and implementation of that technology. India will play a crucial role in designing the wireless technology of the future as well as in the manufacturing related to it. During the era of 2G, 3G and 4G India was dependent on other countries for technology. But with 5G, India has created a new history. With 5G, India is setting a global standard in telecom technology for the first time. India is leading others,” the Prime Minister said while launching 5G at the 6th edition of the India Mobile Congress.
So far, only Reliance Jio and Airtel are offering unlimited high-speed 5G services for free on select 4G plans. This month, in March, likely around the Holi Festival, Vodafone Idea (Vi) is also expected to launch 5G in Mumbai, competing with the other two telecom operators by offering unlimited 5G for free. This will be followed by the BSNL 5G launch in June, and if other operators continue their free 5G data benefits, BSNL is also expected to offer unlimited 5G. We will have to wait and see how Vi and BSNL differentiate themselves in 5G, particularly in terms of monetisation.
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