Airtel today stated that it has performed India’s first 5G network demonstration in a rural area, in Bhaipur Bramanan hamlet, on the outskirts of Delhi/NCR, alongside Ericsson.
With technologies like enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), 5G can help bridge the digital divide, according to the firm.
This demonstration achieved over 200 Mbps throughput on a 3GPP-compliant 5G FWA device over 10km away. This translates to a 20KM inter-site coverage (between two 5G sites), allowing for high-speed internet access even in the most distant areas.
Even a commercially available 3GPP-based 5G smartphone connected to the 5G test network and recorded 100+ Mbps speeds over 10 km away from the location.
3GPP 5G radio from Ericsson powered the 5G site infrastructure. The experiment used the allotted mid-band trial frequency (3500MHz) and the existing FDD spectrum. The testing findings show Airtel’s capabilities to provide 5G capacity and coverage over its current national 4G infrastructure.
