According to Gopal Vittal, managing director, Bharti Airtel, the company intends to launch 5G in August 2022 and thereafter extend to a pan-India rollout shortly. In addition, Vittal mentioned that the company’s 5G network rollout plans for 5,000 towns is in place. Meanwhile, he also asserted that Airtel’s roll-out of 5G on a pan-Indian basis will cover every town and key rural areas by March 2024.
With regard to the capital expenditure (capex) Vittal noted that while the company’s three year capex will remain around the same levels, the rapid rollout expected for the 5G network could witness some advancing of capex on year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis. Besides, he also affirmed that the company’s core and radio network are future-proofed and can operate in either non-standalone (NSA) or standalone (SA) mode.
Of late, Airtel signed 5G equipment deals worth $2.5 billion with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung. As per the pact, out of the 22 circles, Ericsson will deploy 5G networks for Bharti Airtel in 11 circles, including Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu; Nokia in nine circles, including Mumbai; and Samsung in two circles of Punjab and Kolkata.
