Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom company in India, is making moves with 5G. The telco has been working with several technology partners/vendors to develop new use cases of 5G relevant to the Indian market. Now, Vi has made an announcement regarding the launch of its 5G services. The telco has been texting to its customers in Delhi about the ’nearby’ launch of services. The exact message from Vi read, “Good News!! Vi network is being upgraded to 5G! Your network experience will now be superior, soon you will experience better coverage and superfast internet service in Delhi-NCR with our Vi network.” The telecom operator hasn’t specified a date as to when the launch will happen, but because of this SMS, it is safe to assume that it will be sometime soon. This message also gives a hint about where Vi will start its 5G journey from. Delhi is one of the priority circles for the telco, and it has been able to add more subscribers than its competitors there. Vi hasn’t been very vocal about the launch of its 5G services, and this is actually the first indication from the company that it would soon be launching 5G in India.
Telecom Minister Says 5G Launch is in October
Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union telecom minister of India, had said that 5G would launch in India around October 2022. Right now, the telecom operators are reportedly laying the infrastructure necessary for 5G. All the necessary steps are over, and now the wait is just for the 5G launch. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is expected to announce developments around 5G on August 29, 2022, at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for shareholders and investors. It would be interesting to see which telecom operator is the first to launch 5G services in the country. Whether it is Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), or Reliance Jio is something that we will have to wait and see.
