Airtel logs 50 mn unique customers on 5G network; covers all states, UTs

Bharti Airtel has announced it has over 50 million unique 5G customers on its network. On the occasion of the one-year anniversary of 5G being launched in India, the company also announced Airtel 5G Plus services are now available in almost all districts across the country.

The latest numbers put the total 5G subscriber base in India at upwards of 100 million. On August 28, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani had said Jio had crossed 50 million 5G subscribers.

Over the weekend, Airtel said it has rolled out 5G services in all 28 states and eight union territories, covering almost all districts. The company said all districts of India now have Airtel 5G services barring certain Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh and the islands of Lakshadweep, which are connected through Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology. VSAT is a small-sized earth station used to transmit and receive data, voice, and video signals over a satellite communication network.

For obvious reasons, the districts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are also not served. India has a total of 766 districts as of September 2023.

Airtel had earlier targeted rolling out 5G services in all key towns and rural areas by September. Jio aims to reach every district and town with 5G by the end of 2023.

Sources said the growth in subscriber numbers had been led by urban telecom circles such as Delhi and Mumbai, apart from larger circles such as Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. "In all these circles, customer additions topped 5 million within the first six months of 5G services being commercially started," one source said.

Randeep Sekhon, chief technology officer at Bharti Airtel, said the milestone had come earlier than planned. "This marks a big expansion of Airtel’s 5G coverage, going from 1 million in October of 2022 to 50 million in just 12 months of the launch. The expansion continues at full speed," he said.