Airtel and Jio’s 5G download speeds plummet two years after launch due to network congestion: Report

New Delhi: Two years after launching 5G services in India, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio’s download speeds have declined significantly, largely due to network congestion caused by faster rollout and increased data consumption, says a report by Opensignal .

However, according to the report, after two years, India’s 5G availability is among the highest in the region, with Reliance Jio leading the way – Jio users spend two-thirds of their time with an active 5G signal.

In terms of mobile experience, Airtel has emerged as the 5G leader in India across all aspects – 5G experience, including 5G video, 5G live video and 5G gaming experience – but Jio remains the only top Telcos in the coverage category, including availability, 5G availability and coverage experience.

Jio was connected to a 5G network 66.7% of the time, almost three times more than Airtel.
At around 240 Mbps, Airtel’s 5G download speed is 6.6% faster than Reliance Jio. Similarly, Airtel has a higher 5G upload speed of 23 Mbps, around 83% faster than Jio.“However, both Airtel and Jio’s average 5G download speeds have declined significantly, primarily due to network congestion resulting from faster 5G rollout and increased data consumption per 5G subscriber,” Opensignal said.

The report collected data from four operators – Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) – over a period of 90 days from June 1, 2024 to August 29, 2024 to examine the network experience.

India’s 5G rollout has been driven by Jio and Airtel, while Vi has yet to launch commercial 5G services.

According to Opensignal, spectrum management and usage play a key role in shaping users’ 5G experience. “Our recent analysis found that 16% of 5G connections in India use low-band spectrum (700 MHz), which provides comprehensive coverage but limits speeds. The rest uses the 3.5 GHz spectrum in the upper mid-band,” it said.