Jio to speed up 5G rollouts to widen technology gap with Airtel, Voda Idea

Reliance Jio Infocomm is likely to speed up its 5G servicesNSE -0.58 % rollout by the second-half of calendar 2020 to stop rivals Vodafone Idea and Bharti AirtelNSE -2.31 % from gaining scale on the 4G front and benefitting from any 4G-led data monetisation, SBICap Securities has said.

Jio’s early 5G move, it said, is likely to be driven by the mega capital raise plans recently announced by Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel towards boosting 4G capacity.

Rajiv Sharma, co-head of research at SBICap Securities, expects “the 5G spectrum auction to happen by January 2020”.