Jio rolls out 5G service in 26 GHz band, claims top speed of 2 Gbps

Reliance Jio Infocomm on Monday said it has rolled out 5G services in 26 gigahertz millimetre waves across India and has claimed a record top speed of up to 2 gigabits per second.

The millimetre wave is a short-length radio wave that almost works like a dedicated spectrum pipe for each user and has the potential to deliver wired broadband-level speed.

'Jio customers now using 26 GHz mmWave-based business-connectivity across all 22 telecom circles,' Reliance Jio said in a statement.

The telecom major said it has completed its minimum roll-out obligations in each of the 22 telecom circles, across each of the spectrum bands, ahead of time under the terms of the spectrum allocated to it on August 17, 2022.

'On July 19, 2023, RJIL had completed submission of the prescribed details towards completion of the Phase 1 minimum roll-out obligation with the Department of Telecommunications Units and by August 11 2023, necessary DoT testing was completed in all circles,' the statement said.

Jio said that it has the highest spectrum footprint.

The company has 1,000 MHz in the millimetre wave band (26 GHz) in each of the 22 circles that can enable enterprise use cases as well as provide high-quality streaming services.

'The benefits of 5G mmWave include extremely high bandwidth and low latency. mmWave business solutions will expand the market for leased lines by providing equally dependable fixed-wireless services, thereby digitising millions of small and medium enterprises with enterprise-grade connectivity and business solutions. This spectrum is capable of providing ultra-high-speed broadband of up to 2 Gbps,' Reliance Jio Infocomm Chairman Akash Ambani said.

Jio had acquired a unique combination of low-band, mid-band and mmWave spectrum in auctions that were held in August 2022.

'Since receiving the 5G spectrum in August last year, our team has been working round the clock to ensure we keep up the pace of the 5G roll-out that we had promised to enable pan-India 5G coverage by the end of this year. This is one of the fastest 5G roll-outs of this scale globally and gives India a prominent position on the global 5G map,' Ambani said.