Airtel was able to achieve a speed of 1.2Gbps with ultra-low latency during the 5G test trials in Mumbai’s Lower Parel area.
The 5G network trial was conducted by the telecom giant using Nokia’s 5G gear in Phoenix Mall in the city. A video of the speed test of Airtel’s trial network shared shows that the company was able to achieve a speed of 1.2Gbps with ultra-low latency during the 5G test trials. It also managed to achieve an upload speed of close to 850Mbps. Airtel surpassed its previous speed of 1Gbps when a 5G trial network was carried out in Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub area.
ET Telecom which first reported the development quoted sources who said that a similar trial will begin in Kolkata soon. Earlier this year in January, Airtel became the first telco to successfully demonstrate live 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city in the 1800 MHz band through the NSA (Non-Stand Alone) network technology.
DoT has allocated spectrum to Airtel in four Indian telecom circles including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Delhi. The report notes that Airtel has been allotted the 5G trial spectrum in 3500 MHz, 28 GHz and 700 MHz. Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have been allotted spectrums in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. The applicant TSPs include Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and MTNL.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is yet to hold auctions for the 5G spectrum in India. Earlier this year, the Standing Committee on Information Technology was informed that 5G will roll out in India to some extent for specific uses, by the end of the calendar year 2021 or beginning of 2022, as 4G is expected to continue in India for at least another 5-6 years.