5G BTS deployment faces slow growth amid limited use cases

India's 5G base transceiver station (BTS) count is currently rising at a slow pace. After cutting back on their capital expenditures for 5G deployment, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are now focusing more on optimizing their networks. Another sign of a sluggish market is the gradual rollout of 5G BTS. There aren't many consumer applications available for 5G yet. By the end of February 2025, there were a total of 469,792 5G BTS, which is a slight increase from 467,620 at the end of January 2025. In fact, there were 425,987 5G BTS in February 2024, indicating that year-over-year growth is also quite slow.

With Jio and Airtel having achieved their target of 5G base transceiver stations (BTS), it's now Vodafone Idea's (Vi) turn to add to the list. Vi has begun its 5G rollout and is gearing up for a more extensive launch in key cities. The most significant expansion of 5G BTS is expected to come from Vodafone Idea in the upcoming months. Besides Vi, BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) is also anticipated to play a role in boosting the number of 5G BTS in India. Following the completion of its 4G rollout of one lakh sites, BSNL has declared that it will begin rolling out 5G. BSNL is now testing 5G in Delhi with a number of suppliers. BSNL intends to start offering 5G services shortly, the business claims that its technology is ready for 5G already. Companies like Tejas Networks and C-DoT are contributing the required technology, and a consortium headed by Tata Consultancy Services is supporting the project. 

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are slowly beginning to profit from 5G. Both operators now offer plans with higher daily data thresholds of 2GB or more. Additionally, with lesser use cases of 5G, one of the strategies being considered by these private telcos is the expansion of Fixed-Wireless Access (FWA) services.

Reliance Jio has installed the highest number of 5G base transceiver stations (BTS) in India. This is due to Jio's implementation of 5G SA (standalone architecture), which necessitates a distinct network infrastructure compared to 4G. In contrast, Airtel's 4G NSA (non-standalone architecture) operates in conjunction with the existing 4G network. As a result, Airtel incurred lower costs and was able to launch 5G with fewer BTS.

The 5G market in India continues to expand as more budget-friendly 5G phones enter the scene. Numerous options are now available for under Rs 15,000 from various manufacturers including Motorola, Redmi, Realme, Oppo and Samsung.