Vodafone Idea Brings 5G Services to Chandigarh and Patna; Delhi, Bengaluru Expansion to Follow Next Month

Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Monday expanded the availability of its 5G services to two more cities in India. Previously limited to the Mumbai circle where a majority of users are said to be enjoying high-speed internet with select prepaid and postpaid plans, the telecom operator has introduced its 5G network in Chandigarh and Patna in partnership with Samsung. The company is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for network optimisation. Vi says it plans to expand the 5G network to more major cities next month.

Vodafone Idea (Vi)'s 5G Expansion

The telecom operator says Vi users in Chandigarh and Patna can take advantage of its high-speed internet services starting Monday (April 28) as part of the initial 5G rollout phase. It has partnered with Samsung to implement vRan technology for better network flexibility and performance, along with an energy-efficient infrastructure.

Further, Vi has also deployed AI-based Self-Organizing Network (SON) system to optimise its 5G network performance.

Since the introduction of its 5G services in India in March, a high adoption rate has been witnessed. As per Vi, over 70 percent of eligible users are using Vi 5G which is contributing to 20 percent of the total network traffic. Additionally, it enabled 5G services in 11 major cricket stadiums across the country amidst the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.

In line with its rollout plans, the telecom operator plans to expand its 5G services to Bengaluru and Delhi next month. Vi says its 5G coverage expansion is in line with the growth in 5G handset penetration and demand for the service in India.

Prepaid users can access Vi's 5G services starting at Rs. 299 per month. This plan offers 1GB data per day for a validity of 28 days. For postpaid users, Vi's Max 451 plan, priced at Rs. 451, offers 50GB of data. Notably, all plans also offer unlimited 5G data wherever the coverage is available. However, the company says this is part of its introductory offer and thus, is speculated to be a temporary offering.