Jio expands 5G coverage to 33 district headquarters in Gujarat

Telecom operator Reliance Jio has announced that its Jio True 5G has covered all 33 districts of Gujarat with its 5G standalone (SA) network coverage. Jio’s rival telco Bharti Airtel, that offers Airtel 5G Plus services, deploys a 5G NSA (non-standalone) technology.   

“Gujarat has become the first state in the country to get Jio True 5G coverage in 100% of the district headquarters,” Akash M Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited said in a statement. 

This is not a commercial launch from the telco, but a beta testing. Only users invited through the Welcome Offer will be able to use 5G services of Jio at “no extra cost if they meet certain conditions, such as having a 5G SA-supportive smartphone and a Rs. 239 plan or above”.  

Read more: Standalone 5G vs Non-Standalone 5G: What is the difference 

Two days back, Jio announced the Welcome Offer for consumers in Pune, Maharashtra, in which the company said, “Jio users in Pune can experience Unlimited Data at up to 1 Gbps+ speeds, at no additional cost”. A week earlier, the telco said it is offering True-5G services across Delhi-NCR region, including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and other major locations that aims to cover most residential areas, schools and educational institutions, hospitals, government buildings and high streets in the region. 

This would mean that Jio True 5G is available in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Nathdwara with the Jio Welcome Offer. “We are increasing the Jio 5G footprint city by city on an on-going basis, month after month,” the company said. 

Not just Jio, rival Airtel is also bullish on the 5G expansion plans in the country. The telco has announced Airtel 5G Plus services in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur, Varanasi, Panipat, Gurugram and Guwahati and also at the new terminals in Bengaluru, Pune, Nagpur and Varanasi airports. 

As 5G comes to more regions in India smartphone brands are rolling out 5G-ready software updates for their devices. Apple announced that it is planning to roll out a 5G-related software update for iPhones in December. The iPhone 12 series and above, and iPhone SE (third-gen) are 5G compatible. South Korean electronics maker Samsung also said it is rolling out software updates for its supported smartphones to enable 5G by mid-November.   

Other Android smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo and Vivo devices also support 5G networks. Further, Indian smartphone maker has rolled out of 5G FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) update for its only 5G smartphone touted the AGNI 5G.  

PM Narendra Modi launched the first commercial 5G network in India on October 1. The technology seeks to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system. 5G services are also expected to play a major role to achieve the economic goal of making India a $5-trillion economy by 2024-25, as experts believe, 5G will have a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion by 2035 and can deliver an additional GDP of $150 billion for the country, between 2025 and 2040.