Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, announced during the India Mobile Congress that the company’s 5G service will be accessible in eight cities starting on Saturday. Bharti Airtel is now the first firm in the country to offer 5G services.

Airtel’s 5G network will be available in eight cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Bangalore, and others, according to Mittal. He also stated that Airtel plans to launch 5G services in numerous cities across the country by March 2023, and throughout India by March 2024.

According to a senior corporate executive, Airtel 5G services will be offered at the current 4G rates until a new 5G tariff is revealed. According to the official, 5G services are also being launched in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Siliguri.

Randeep Singh Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer at Bharti Airtel, stated that the company’s backend infrastructure is ready.

“In order to provide 5G service, we need to install some equipment on mobile towers.” We’re taking things slowly. The service will be provided starting today in the vicinity of towers where the equipment has been installed,” Sekhon noted.

He stated that Airtel is introducing new cities for 5G services and boosting penetration inside cities on a daily basis.

“People will require 5G phones to use the service, which is being launched today,” Sekhon explained.

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Bharti Airtel placed an order for 5G equipment with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung immediately after the auctions concluded.

Sunil Mittal’s company has bought 19,867.8 MHZ spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands, increasing its spectrum holding.

In the recently concluded auction, Bharti Airtel obtained a spectrum worth Rs 43,084 crore.