Indian telecom companies are continuously expanding their 5G service range. Foreign media reports indicate that the 5G infrastructure of telecom company Jio under Reliance Group in India has recently expanded to 346 new cities. Chief Technology Officer Shyam Mardikar stated that it is expected to cover all urban areas in India in advance by the end of May.
Currently, Jia has established over 50000 large base stations and 300000 small base stations in India to support 5G services, covering 2691 cities and spanning 35 states, federal territories, and capital districts.
Jia started establishing an independent 5G network in October last year, with devices provided by Ericsson and Nokia. They are the first to launch a trial version of 5G services in major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata, with the goal of achieving full coverage in India by December this year.
Jiao currently has 5G wireless spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, and 26 GHz frequency bands, making it the only telecommunications company in India to have a 700 MHz low-frequency spectrum.
In addition to Jie, competitor Batti Telecom is also actively expanding its 5G coverage. Batti Telecom has stated that its 5G Plus services can be used in over 500 local cities.Indian Telecom Operator Jia
According to Crisil Ratings, an Indian research institute, it is expected that by March 2025, about one-third of India’s wireless data users (i.e. 300 million users) will use 5G services. Currently, a total of 200000 to 250000 users in Asian countries are already using this 5G service.
Crisil Ratings stated that currently, 30-35% of the 150 to 170 million phones shipped annually in India support 5G. Although 5G phone shipments will gradually increase, the initial application value and cost are still lower than 4G phones, resulting in only one-third of India’s 5G user penetration rate in 2025.
However, Crisil Ratings believes that upgrading 5G users to faster speeds will stimulate data usage, which is expected to drive the overall average revenue per user (ARPU) and profit performance of telecommunications companies.