
Core Points - Vodafone Idea has launched its 5G services in Mumbai, marking its entry into the 5G market after Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, which began their services two and a half years earlier [1][2] - As of March 2023, India has over 474,000 5G base stations, with the government claiming that 5G network deployment speed is the fastest in the world, covering 99% of the country and 82% of the population [1][11] - Despite rapid deployment, India's 5G download speeds have significantly declined from a peak of 304 Mbps in Q1 2023 to 210 Mbps by Q1 2025, representing a 30% decrease [5][6] Deployment and Market Dynamics - The Indian government approved 5G trials for major telecom operators in May 2021, with commercial rollout starting in October 2022 after delays in spectrum auctions [2] - Vodafone Idea's entry into the 5G market is expected to enhance competition among the three major operators: Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea [3] Network Performance Issues - The decline in 5G speeds is attributed to limited spectrum resources and inadequate fiber infrastructure, which are crucial for handling high data traffic [7][8] - Reliance Jio's extensive use of the 700 MHz band, while beneficial for coverage, limits bandwidth and thus speed, while Bharti Airtel's non-standalone architecture shares resources between 4G and 5G users, further impacting performance [7][10] Comparative Analysis - India's 5G base station count is only 10.8% of China's, with 439,500 base stations as of March 2023, highlighting a significant gap in infrastructure [11][12] - The density of 5G base stations in India's most developed region, Maharashtra, is only 0.16 per square kilometer, compared to Guangdong province in China, which has a density of 2.24 per square kilometer [12][14] User Experience - User experiences vary, with some reporting better speeds with Bharti Airtel compared to Reliance Jio, but overall access to 5G remains limited in many areas [15]