Airtel 5G trial network begins in Mumbai, manages to hit speeds of over 1Gbps

Airtel is conducting the trial in the 3500 MHz Band using 5G gear from Nokia as per DoT guidelines. Although the official 5G spectrum auction isn't due to happen anytime soon, the DoT has already allocated service providers some bandwidth to conduct trials. In Airtel's case, it has the 3500 MHz, 28 GHz, and 700 MHz bands in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, respectively. We can expect to see more trails in these regions in the coming weeks. Airtel's next destination for 5G trials is said to be Kolkata.

While these trials indicate that carriers are hard at work bringing 5G to the masses, it'll be quite sometime before the average consumer gets to use it. Plus, working at full speed might not be possible in many locations due to local restrictions. At best, we're probably looking at a 2023 rollout in metropolitan cities. Rural areas and interiors may have to wait even longer. However, telecom operators can repurpose some existing 4G infrastructure to double up as 5G radios, so things aren't all that bad.