Reliance Jio is considering plans to offer 5G services in nine cities in the country by January 2023, probably starting with Delhi and Mumbai sometime later this year, said sources who have held discussions with the telecom player. The other cities are Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow.
Telecom vendors say they do not see any hindrance in the supply of the initial requirement of 5G radios. By March next year, they estimate, 5G radios would cover 70,000-72,000 sites across the country, or around 10 per cent of the existing towers.
“We expect as many as 3,000-4,000 sites to