NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday became the first Indian telecom operator to launch a fifth-generation (5G) network-slicing-enabled service, bringing an advanced technology to the country that was previously available only in selected markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.
Airtel’s “Priority Postpaid” service, which leverages 5G network slicing, will deliver premium, consistent experiences to its subscribers even in areas of network congestion, such as stadiums or congested regions.
The telecom carrier said it has upgraded its 5G network with advanced slicing technology to make the network more efficient, create capacity, and enable that capacity to deliver a superior experience for Priority customers.
By intelligently and dynamically segmenting network capacity, the Sunil Mittal-driven telco said it is offering a stable and dependable experience for postpaid customers.
The move signals that the postpaid offerings may kick-off Indian telcos’ 5G monetisation efforts, leveraging bandwidth-driven services. Both Airtel and Jio already sell commercial 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services bundled with premium OTT services.
ET recently reported that Airtel is exploring the use of network slicing to offer differentiated voice and data-based plans to subscribers in a bid to monetise its 5G infrastructure.
Rival Reliance Jio, too, has said it plans to offer network slicing-driven premium 5G services to subscribers after receiving regulatory clarity.
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“Priority Postpaid is our latest innovation powered by the 5G slicing technology. It provides a superior, more reliable, and dependable experience to our customers — whether they are attending a client call in traffic, or streaming at a packed concert, or booking a cab in a crowded market,” said Shashwat Sharma, MD & CEO, Airtel India.
Airtel said its Priority service is available for customers on all postpaid plans. Existing customers will start enjoying the benefit automatically.
Airtel’s base postpaid pack currently starts at ₹449 per month (ex-GST), which offers a single SIM connection, unlimited calls, 100 SMS, and unlimited 4G and 5G data. It is bundled with OTT applications, including Google One (100GB Cloud Storage), JioHotstar Mobile Subscription for 3 months, Airtel Xstream Play Premium, Adobe Express Premium for 12 Months, and further provides fraud detection and spam alerts.
The telco’s top-end postpaid pack is priced at ₹1,749 (ex-GST).
Over the past year, slicing-based 5G services have been launched in many countries, such as the USA, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia.
5G network slicing is a core feature of the standalone (SA) architecture. Presently, only Jio has a 5G SA architecture-based network.
At the most recent quarterly earnings call, Sharma had revealed that Airtel’s 5G mobile network has become SA-ready, while the FWA service is running fully on SA.
Airtel reported an average revenue per user (ARPU) of ₹257 in the financial quarter ended March 31, 2026, compared to ₹245 in the year-ago period.
“We welcome the introduction of 5G network slicing capabilities in India, marking an important milestone in the evolution of next-generation digital infrastructure,” said SP Kochhar, director-general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). “With continued innovation and investment, we look forward to India not just keeping pace, but emerging as a global leader in advanced 5G capabilities.”
