India has officially launched commercial 5G services. PM Narendra Modi will make the announcement at IMC (India Mobile Congress).
On October 1, the big announcement about 5G will be made at the IMC, which runs from October 1 to October 4. In addition to the PM’s announcement, there will be a discussion on “Towards 5G Advanced & 6G,” so there will presumably be a lot of discussion on the future of communications and technology.
It doesn’t mean that users can begin using 5G on October 1. There may still be a delay. Jio has said it is ready to launch its 5G service independent of existing 4G towers, using new 5G infrastructure instead. However, users will still need to buy a new 5G SIM card. Similarly, Airtel is expected to launch its 5G services around the same time as Jio, and Vodafone Idea’s 5G launch is still uncertain.
Regardless of the timing, it coincides with India’s celebration of 75 years of independence in August. It will be interesting to see the tie-in deals and promotions that will accompany the 5G launch. The new 5G services are expected to be priced similarly to the existing 4G services, according to analysts in the country. For carriers, onboarding new users will be their first priority, at least initially.
