List of Supported 5G Bands in India

PM Modi officially launched the commercial 5G services in India on October 1 at the inauguration of the 6th edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2022. Airtel has rolled out its 5G services in 8 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, and Bangalore. Airtel will cover all urban areas by March 2023 and the entire nation by March 2024. Jio will roll out its 5G services by Diwali 2022. Jio aims to deliver 5G in every district and taluka by December 2023 at the most affordable rates.

India started the 5G spectrum auctions on July 26, 2022. The auction was concluded on August 1, 2022. The participants were India’s major telecom operators — Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vi (Vodafone-Idea), and a new player, Adani Data Networks. The Government of India received a record total of ₹1.5 lakh crore from the auction. Jio bought nearly more than half the bidding for over ₹88,000 crores. This was followed by Airtel, which spent over ₹43,000 crores on the bidding.

Now that the spectrum bidding has been concluded let’s know what 5G bands are supported in India. Whether you have a 5G smartphone or you are planning to buy a 5G smartphone in the future, this list of 5G bands will help you find if the smartphone has compatible 5G bands or not.

Which 5G Bands are Supported in India?

The 5G bands supported in India can be classified into three classes based on their frequencies— low-band, mid-band, and high-band mmWave. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has floated a variety of frequency bands ranging from 600 MHz to up to 26 GHz.

• The low-band frequencies include 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2500 MHz.
• In contrast, the mid-band frequency is 3300 MHz.
• Lastly, the spectrum also includes a high-band frequency of up to 26 GHz, known as mmWave. All telecom operators have acquired all kinds of frequency bands.

The telecom operators seem most interested in the low-band 700MHz (n28) and mid-band 3500MHz (n78). The n78 band can deliver speeds up to 1Gbps. Its cost efficiency and worldwide compatibility make it attractive to telecom service providers. Thankfully, several 5G phones from smartphone manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus support the n78 5G band.

Even phones with just one or two 5G bands, like the OnePlus Nord, the OnePlus 9, and others, will also support 5G in India. This is because of the n78 5G band and its adoption by India’s telecom giants. The n28 5G band is another frequency band supported by almost all telecom operators in India.

Besides the widely supported 700 MHz n78 band, Adani Data Networks and Jio are also interested in the ultra-fast mmWave 5G bands. The n258, the one collecting most of the interest, is a 26 GHz ultra-low latency 5G band that can deliver speeds up to 10Gbps.

• Read: Do You Need a New SIM for 5G?

Here is the list of Supported 5G Bands in India

• 600MHz- n71
• 700MHz- n28
• 800MHz- n5
• 900MHz- n8
• 1800MHz- n3
• 2100MHz- n1
• 2300MHz- n40
• 2500MHz- n41
• (3300 – 3800MHz)- n78
• (3300 – 4200MHz)- n77
• (4400 – 5000MHz)- n79
• 26GHz (24.25 – 27.5 GHz)- n258

Final Words

The 5G bands mentioned above are expected to be used by service providers in different regions of the country. You must check whether the smartphone you wish to purchase has the 5G frequency bands available in your country. This would help you get a good 5G network experience.