Indian telcos Airtel and Jio initially launched 5G services in October 2022

Indian telcos Bharati Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm are likely to put and end to their unlimited 5G data plans in the second half of 2024 and charge at least 5-10% more than the current 4G tariff, local newspaper The Economic Times reported.

The report noted that the move aims to drive monetization of 5G technology and boost revenue growth, according to analysts.

Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharati Airtel launched 5G services in India in October 2022 and have since been offering unlimited 5G services at existing 4G tariffs. However, the telcos now aim to focus more on monetization, as adoption of 5G technology increases at a national level.

The report, citing a note from Jefferies, noted that Airtel and Jio could increase their 5G tariffs by 5-10% compared to current 4G plans while offering 30-40% additional dataimprove adoption and increase market share in the 5G segment.

The report also added that mobile tariffs may increase by at least 20% in the third quarter of 2024 and stated that Airtel will be the first operator to hike tariffs, followed by Vodafone Idea and Jio.

Reliance Jio Infocomm has recently completed the rollout of 5G technology in India last month, according to the company’s chairman, Mukesh Ambani. During a presentation at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet 2024, the executive noted that Jio’s 5G network currently reaches all towns and cities across India.

Reliance Jio Infocomm has been rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture since October 2022.

Reliance Jio had previously secured a mix of wireless spectrum for 5G across the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. Jio is the only Indian operator with spectrum in the 700 MHz band.

Bharti Airtel recently said its 5G service, dubbed “Airtel 5G Plus,” is already accessible across all districts andterritories in India.

Bharti Airtel previously said it had reached 50 million unique 5G customers on its network in September. The company’s head Sunil Bharti Mittal, announced that Airtel has rolled out 5G services in 5,000 towns and 20,000 villages across India and is on track to cover the entire country with this technology by March 2024.

Airtel is currently using equipment from Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to provide 5G services. The Indian operator had secured a total of 19,800 megahertz of spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands in a previous auction carried out by the Indian government. The telco is offering 5G via 5G NSA architecture.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea is already offering 5G services in locations in Pune and Delhi, according to recent reports.

The reports noted that the information was provided by the company in its website. However, the telco did not yet make any official announcement regarding the launch of 5G services. As of now, Vodafone Idea has not officially disclosed its 5G rollout plan.

In June 2023, Vodafone Idea had confirmed “advanced talks” with a number of vendorsdefine its final strategy for the deployment of 5G in India.