The wait for 5G services for BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) customers won't be that long. BSNL will start offering 5G services in India as early as August 15th of next year, according to Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who made the announcement at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 in New Delhi.
According to a report by ET Telcom, the 5G services offered by BSNL will be based on domestically created technology and will compete with Jio and Airtel's 5G. Jio is most likely to roll out the service later this month, but Airtel has already started the 5G deployment throughout the nation. At the IMC 2022 5G launch in India, Mukesh Ambani said, "A strong BSNL will bring the balancing presence of a government in this very crucial industry.”
5G Services To Be Available in Over 200 Cities
Ashwini Vaishnaw made note of the fact that over 200 cities will have access to 5G services within the next six months and that efforts are being made to provide 5G coverage to 80–90% of the nation within the following two years. "5G too, to be affordable," he continued.
Both Airtel and Jio have emphasised that the 5G prices will be comparable to the current 4G plans, albeit they have not yet revealed any specific details. Jio has also stated that its 5G plans will have the lowest prices in the entire world. Moving on, the anticipated 5G speed in India will be ten times more than the current 4G speed. At the IMC 2022, the Airtel network provided a 300Mbps 5G speed.
At first, the Airtel 5G network would be accessible in 8 cities, including Varanasi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi. The nationwide implementation isn't anticipated to begin until March 2024. By December 2023, Jio, on the other hand, promises to bring 5G service to every town, taluka, and tehsil. The rollout of Vi 5G in the nation is still unknown.
