Is Airtel in no hurry to switch to standalone 5G?

Bharti Airtel may start switching its 5G services onto a standalone (SA) network from the non-standalone (NSA) mode it has been using in one or two cities in the coming three years.

However, according to a report by The Economic Times, a senior executive said that Airtel still has a lot of traffic on its 4G bands and that there is no tangible benefit to users from shifting modes.

The executive further pointed out that even after three years since its launch, 5G has yet to generate new revenue streams for telecom operators in India or elsewhere in the world, with speed being its only differentiator from 4G.

This comment comes just after Airtel announced a 5G Core equipment deal with Ericsson to transition Airtel's non-standalone (NSA) network to a 5G standalone (SA) mode.

"SA...we are already doing it for our fixed wireless access (FWA) piece and all our core networks are anyway SA-ready. But we have no intention to switch on SA now for some time. We have done a long-term deal with Nokia and Ericsson, and over a period of five years, all of this will shift. But nothing on the anvil right now," the executive reportedly said.

"4G traffic is not growing but 5G is. But unless more and more traffic gets offloaded on the 5G bands, and the spectrum gets released for us (Airtel) to be able to use it for SA ... because, for SA, you need spectrum in the mid-band, say 1800 MHz or 2100 MHz band, and therefore, until that happens, we are in no hurry," the executive further said. 

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