Airtel dials into 5G club with test run in Hyderabad

<p>
In a major landmark, Sunil Mittal-led telecom major Bharti Airtel said on Thursday that it has “become the country’s first telco to successfully demonstrate and orchestrate LIVE 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.”</p>
<p>
“Airtel 5G is capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x latency and 100x concurrency when compared to existing technologies. Specifically, in Hyderabad, users were able to download a full length movie in a matter of seconds on a 5G phone. This demonstration has underlined the company’s technology capabilities. The full impact of the 5G experience, however, will be available to our customers, when adequate spectrum is available and government approvals received,” the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>
Airtel did this over its existing liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band through the NSA (Non Stand Alone) network technology. Using a first of its kind, dynamic spectrum sharing, Airtel seamlessly operated 5G and 4G concurrently within the same spectrum block. This demonstration has emphatically validated the 5G readiness of Airtel’s network across all domains – radio, core and transport, the statement added.</p>
<p>
Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO, Bharti Airtel said: “Every one of our investments is future proofed as this game changing test in Hyderabad proves. We believe India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation.”</p>