Airtel launches 5G trial network in Mumbai shopping mall

BHARTI Airtel and its telecom gear maker Nokia on Monday (12) switched on their 5G field trial network at a shopping mall complex in Mumbai and will run a similar trial in Kolkata, according to sources.

Airtel is conducting the trial in the 3500 MHz band using 5G gear from the Finnish gear maker. The trials delivered speeds of over 1Gbps with ultra-low latency, the sources added. The development was also confirmed by a Nokia India spokesperson, ET Telecom confirmed.

India’s department of telecommunications recently allotted 5G trial spectrum to the Sunil Mittal-led telco in 3500 MHz, 28 GHz and 700 MHz in various Indian cities like Delhi/NCR and Bangalore besides Mumbai and Kolkata to develop India-relevant use cases on the next-gen wireless broadband technology.

Airtel became the first telco in India to test 5G over a live network in Hyderabad earlier this year using liberalised spectrum in 1800 MHz. Airtel’s network is now reportedly ready to launch commercial 5G services in the country shortly after the availability of adequate spectrum, the reports added.

Vodafone Idea, India’s third largest telecom operator, had also begun 5G trials in the cities of Pune and Gandhinagar in partnership with Ericsson and Nokia.

India’s top telco Reliance Jio had also started off its