Bharti Airtel emerged as the top operator in India in the 5G Experience metrics, which include 5G Video, 5G Live Video, 5G Games Experience, 5G Download Speed, and 5G Upload Speed. This means Airtel users not only enjoy the fastest average 5G download and upload speeds but also the best quality of experience while streaming on-demand and live videos, as well as playing multiplayer mobile games with 5G in India, Opensignal said in its mobile network experience report for October 2024.
Also Read: Bharti Airtel Launches Green 5G Initiative to Enhance Energy Efficiency
Airtel 5G Experience Metrics
"Airtel wins the 5G Download Speed award, with our users on its network achieving the fastest 5G download speeds in India — around 240 Mbps, which is 6.6 percent faster than Jio. Similarly, Airtel also wins the 5G Upload Speed award with a score of 23 Mbps, approximately 83 percent faster than Jio. However, Jio wins the overall Download Speed Experience award with average speeds of 90 Mbps — almost twice as fast as Airtel." the report said.
Airtel has also topped the charts in Overall Experience in Video, Live Video, Games, and Upload Speed Experience.
Jio's Strengths in Coverage and Consistency
According to the report, Reliance Jio has excelled in Coverage, Consistency, and Download Speeds. Jio remains the sole winner of all three awards in the Coverage category, which includes Availability, 5G Availability and Coverage Experience.
"Jio wins the 5G Availability award, with our 5G users on its network connecting to 5G 66.7 percent of the time, nearly three times more than those with Airtel," the report said.
Jio retains the Consistent Quality award, with a score of 66.5 percent, 3.2 percentage points higher than Airtel. Jio also leads in Availability — the proportion of time users are connected to a cellular network — with 99.4 percent, which is less than one percentage point higher than second-placed Airtel, according to the report.
5G Rollout in India
According to OpenSignal, Jio has rolled out a large-scale 5G standalone access (5G SA) network using the 700MHz band for rural areas and the 3.5GHz band for urban centers, with mmWave (26GHz) reserved for high-capacity applications.
Airtel opted for a non-standalone access (NSA) approach, deploying 5G on top of its existing 4G infrastructure for faster urban rollouts, Opensignal said.
The report indicates that both Airtel's and Jio's average 5G download speeds have declined significantly, primarily due to network congestion resulting from faster 5G adoption and increased data consumption per 5G subscriber.
Opensignal noted that, according to its recent analysis, 16 percent of 5G connections in India use low-band (700MHz) spectrum, which offers extensive coverage but limits speed.
"While Airtel and Jio are pushing forward with their 5G strategies, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and BSNL continue to struggle in the 5G race. Vi has been hampered by financial difficulties, delaying its full-scale commercial 5G launch. Although Vi has met its minimum 5G rollout obligations in four key circles, it remains primarily focused on refarming spectrum to improve its 4G network and streamline future 5G deployments. BSNL, meanwhile, is still focused on expanding its 4G services," the report said.
Also Read: Jio Reports Fastest FWA Growth Globally with Over 2.8 Million AirFiber Connections
Data Collection Period
The Opensignal report examined the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in India — Vi, Airtel, Jio, and BSNL — over a period of 90 days, starting on June 1, 2024, and ending on August 29, 2024.
Opensignal
Opensignal claims to be the independent global standard for analysing consumers' connectivity experiences. "Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily lives," the company says.
