October 1, 2022, will go down as one of the most historical dates for India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi just launched 5G in India with a push of a button at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022, taking place at Pragati Maidan between October 1 to October 4, 2022. PM Modi was joined by several of the industry tycoons, including Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Group, and Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises. There were prominent ministers also present, including union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and minister of state for communications, Devusinh Chauhan.
PM Modi said visited the booths of the telcos to see what they have been doing with 5G. In addition, the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) also announced an indigenous 5G core in the presence of PM Modi.
All the telcos showed demos of the use cases powered by their 5G networks to PM Modi. Vodafone Idea showed how construction workers could benefit from the presence of 5G when long-distance real-time communication can be enabled. Airtel displayed how metaverse can help students learn in a more immersive manner, while Jio showed how education could be made available for everyone in the country, including students in rural areas.
S.P. Kochhar, Directorate General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said, "We are honored and thankful to our Honorable Prime Minister for launching first 5G services at IMC 2022. We are excited about the long-awaited 5G launch in India. Telecom operators are geared up to provide the high-speed services that are poised to transform consumer experience. 5G will open new avenues for each sector from manufacturing, healthcare, and augmented entertainment to even smart city projects by integrating with new-age technologies like IoT, M2M learning, drones, AI, and big data analytics. We will see a multifaceted impact in terms of creating opportunities for people and businesses that have the potential to completely change the economic landscape of India. With a goal of reaching a $5 trillion economy by 2025, 5G is the road map for the socio-economic development and future prosperity of our nation."
Airtel to Launch 5G in 8 Cities Today
During the event, Mittal said that Airtel 5G would launch in India in 8 cities. The names of these cities aren't clear yet. Vodafone Idea didn't say anything except that it would launch 5G soon. Jio is going to launch 5G in four cities by this Diwali. Airtel and Jio will try hard to compete for rolling out 5G fast in most parts of the nation. Vodafone Idea needs to sort its funding issues before it can commit to a 5G rollout plan.
