Guwahati: Bharti Airtel announced that its 5G services had launched in Imphal, the capital of Manipur on Wednesday.
With this, Imphal has become the second city in North East India to have 5G connection after Assam’s capital Guwahati.
Last month, Airtel began offering 5G services in Guwahati.
Airtel stated in a statement that its 5G services will be made gradually available to consumers in Imphal as the business builds out its network and completes the roll out.
Customers with 5G capable smartphones can use the high speed Airtel 5G Plus network without paying extra until the rollout is more extensive.
“Currently operational at Akampat area, War Cemetery, Dewlahland area, Takyelpat area, RIMS Imphal area, New Secretariat, Babupara area, Nagaram, Ghari, Uripok, Sagolband and few other select locations, Airtel will augment its network making its services available across the city in due course of time,” the company said.
Commenting on the launch, Rajnish Verma, CEO of Bharti Airtel in Assam and North East, said, “I am thrilled to announce the launch of Airtel 5G Plus in Imphal. Airtel customers can now experience ultrafast network and enjoy speeds upto 20-30 times faster than the current 4G speeds. We are in the process of lighting up the entire city which will allow customers to enjoy superfast access to High-definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos and more.”
The Non Standalone (NSA) version of 5G is available from Airtel. The 5G network is layered over the current layer of the 4G network in NSA mode. It differs from the architecture of the 5G Standalone mode, in which the network is constructed from the ground up.
The company, which has already made its 5G services available in some places, intends to roll them out nationally by the end of the next year.
Airtel 5G Plus services are currently live in 15 cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur, Varanasi, Panipat, Gurugram, Guwahati, Patna, Lucknow, Shimla and Imphal.