Waiting for 5G? It's just round the corner

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is satisfied with the way the mobile operators as well as smartphone manufacturers are pacing the 5G rollouts. While mobile operators are adding around 2,500 sites per week to expand the network, smartphone makers are rolling out software updates for mobile devices for accessing 5G services.

“The industry is working as per the plan and we expect that by mid-November, most of the handsets will be updated,” a DoT official said after a meeting of representatives of mobile operators, smartphone makers and industry associations.

Among the smartphone companies, Apple Wednesday said it will be rolling out 5G support for eligible iPhones for public beta testing via a software update next week, before the full support in December, while Samsung said it only has a few devices remaining to get support, and is expected to roll out the updates by mid-November.

The mobile operators will gradually increase the number of sites made operational per week to 10,000 in near future.

Asked if the government is satisfied with Apple, the official said with beta testing, customers can update their phones and experience 5G. The company is taking time for a broader rollout, as it wants to do proper testing, the official added.

The iOS 16 beta software update will enable 5G support on iPhone 12 and later models. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio customers using a supported iPhone can get a taste of 5G speeds from next week before it is publicly available. The company has not confirmed the exact date of the rollout, however.

The Apple Beta Software Program lets users try out pre-release software and experience the latest features before the software becomes publicly available.

The iPhone-maker has earlier said it will be releasing a broader iOS 16 update that enables 5G support in December.

The government wants 5G handsets to be ready for the high-speed mobile broadband services launched on both standalone and non-standalone networks simultaneously by telecom service providers.

In a previous meeting with industry stakeholders, the government officials had pushed smartphone manufacturers to release over the air updates for all 5G handsets to ensure an early adoption of the services.

Most Chinese smartphone brands including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme have already rolled out updates to most of their handsets to enable 5G support on both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.