5G

Customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi will start enjoying the Airtel 5G Plus services in a phased manner, said the company, as it continues to construct its network and complete the roll out. The company promises between 20 to 30 times higher speeds than the current speed, coupled with brilliant voice experience and super-fast call connect.

According to industry experts, one thing is certain: You need a 5G-enabled handset in your pocket to enjoy high-speed internet to stream movies or play games. "At the SIM level, there may not be a need to change as of now as telecom service providers will upgrade the SIM from the back-end to enable it for 5G services. A 4G SIM can surely work in 5G-powered phones," Counterpoint Research Director Tarun Pathak told IANS.

Launching the service at the four-day India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 at Pragati Maidan in the national capital, Modi spoke about the benefits of 5G in India and how the service will help the country's technological revolution. He also spoke about key pillars that will support the Digital India movement, including the need for affordable technology and a widespread network. The Prime Minister stressed on manufacturing of smart phones in India and said how it will ensure a reduction in device costs.

India is home to more than 500 million smartphone users and more than 100 million users with 5G-ready smartphones wish to upgrade to a 5G subscription in 2023, according to a latest Ericsson report. Madhav Sheth, CEO realme India, VP, realme and President, realme International Business Group, told IANS that as the first brand to launch a 5G-enabled phone, "we believe that 5G has the potential to bring together the entire ecosystem".

Addressing the sixth edition of Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ambani said that Jio will ensure that "every village will enjoy 5G services by December 2023, as Jio sets to begin the roll out of 5G. Reliance Jio will roll out standalone 5G services in select cities in the country by Diwali. To build pan-India true 5G network, Jio has committed a total investment of Rs 2 lakh crore.

At Swedish telecommunication giant Ericsson's booth, Modi drove a car in Sweden via a 5G-enabled solution. He also visited a booth of a consortium of nearly 100 domestic startups working towards developing 5G solutions to solve India's real-time problems across health care, education, disaster management etc. At the Jio Pavilion, Modi witnessed the true 5G devices displayed at the pavilion and experienced the use cases through Jio Glass.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to officially announce the 5G launch on October 1 and there will be a new wave of sales in the domestic market, dominated by Chinese manufacturers. "India's 5G network upgrade will mean a range of opportunities for Chinese mobile phone firms, which have two-thirds of the market, leading to an expected sale of 20 million 5G phones before the year end," the report mentioned.

With 5G rollout in the coming months, OnePlus said it is encouraging consumers to upgrade to the 5G experience with its devices across competitive price points. OnePlus 10R 5G Prime Blue is introduced at Rs 32,999 on Amazon.in. Customers can also avail an instant bank discount up to Rs 3,000 on the device via SBI Credit Cards, said the company.

According to platform sales trends, the demand for 5G smartphones in the Rs 10,000-15,000 has seen nearly a four times growth in the first half of 2022 as against the same period last year. Among the top five states where customers are looking for 5G smartphones are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

As one of the fastest-growing sectors in India, gaming is a major focus area for MediaTek and our consistent collaboration with OEMs has given birth to some of the most innovative gaming smartphones in the country. We await the power of 5G to unlock the full potential of Indian gaming," said Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India.