Bharti Airtel launched 5G Plus services for customers in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Thursday. 5G was inaugurated by the union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the state. While Airtel has not made any official announcement, the development has been shared by CNBCTV18. This means that not only Jio customers, but also Airtel customers in the city would be able to use 5G. Airtel 5G NSA is already supported by most of the 5G smartphones in the market.
Vaishnaw said that the Modi government had sanctioned a total of Rs 5,600 crore for telecom services in Odisha in FY23. Over 5000 mobile towers will be installed in the state to improve telecom connectivity for customers. This means that Airtel's 5G services have reached over 22 cities in the country. Airtel 5G services are offered to 4G customers at no additional cost at the moment.
It is worth noting that not every area of the city might be covered by 5G networks. Airtel has been rolling out 5G throughout the nation in a phased manner by covering select parts of different cities. The telco aims to reach the entire India with 5G networks by March 2024. At the pace that Airtel is going in, it might be possible as well.
