Telecom operators to step up pace of 5G network rollout from December

Number of towers may be increased to 10K per week by Jan

Telecom operators have assured the department of telecommunications (DoT) that they will increase the pace of 5G roll out from December by adding 8,000 towers per week.

Currently, the operators — Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel — have been doing around 2,500 towers a week because of limited radio hardware with the vendors.

A top DoT official confirmed the development saying, “The operators have assured us that they will roll out an additional 8,000 towers every week. Already, over 160 phone models have been enabled on 5G.”

This move comes at a time when Airtel has announced that it has around one million customers on 5G already.

Communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is monitoring the roll out, had earlier pushed the operators to increase their speed and add 10,000 towers every week. 

“Now we are installing around 2,500 base transceiver stations or towers per week. That is a bit low. We need to be installing at least 10,000 BTS per week,” Vaishnaw said earlier.

Telco sources said that companies will be able to increase the number of towers to 10,000 per week.

Device makers have committed that they will enable their phones, both on a non-standalone and standalone 5G network, by November 15. This is much earlier than their deadline of December.

Even Apple Inc has agreed to provide beta software to its customers, which they can test out to enable 5G. The final version will be on offer from December. 

Vendors said that based on their plans of the roll out with operators, there will be over 60,000-70,000 5G-enabled towers by April-May.

The total number of towers in the country stands at around 700,000. 

At the moment, the operators have rolled out services only in a few cities but are expected to expand quickly from January next year.