India

Mobile networks and carriers in India use 2 GSM bands, 2 UMTS bands, 7 LTE bands, and 3 5G NR bands. Find out if your unlocked phone or mobile device will work in India. See the tables below for details.

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India's mobile network has undergone significant development since its inception. The first mobile phone call was made on July 31, 1995, between Union Telecom Minister Sukh Ram and the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, using Modi Telstra's MobileNet service. This marked the beginning of India's mobile telephony era.

In 1994, the first telecom licenses were granted to several operators, including BPL Telecom, MaxTouch, Bharti Cellular, Sterling Infotech, Usha Martin, Modi Telstra, Skycell, and RPG Cellular. Over the years, these operators have undergone various rebranding and mergers, such as BPL Telecom being rebranded to Loop Mobile and later ceasing operations, and MaxTouch evolving into Orange, Hutch, and Vodafone.

The 2G scam in 2012 led to the cancellation of 122 spectrum licenses, significantly impacting the industry. This event marked a turning point, leading to further consolidation and the eventual rise of new players like Reliance Jio, which launched in 2016 with a disruptive free data offering and low tariffs.

Today, India is the world's second-largest telecommunications market, with over 1.1 billion subscriptions, of which wireless connections constitute 98%. The country's mobile network experience is highly competitive, with Airtel leading in Quality of Experience (QoE) measures, Vi excelling in speed, and Jio dominating cellular services availability and consistency. BSNL, however, lags behind in these metrics.

The launch of 5G networks in India has further transformed data consumption, with 5G users consuming significantly more data than 4G users. The rollout of 5G has been rapid, with around 4 lakh 5G sites deployed, covering every state and union territory by 2023.

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Carriers

Name	# of frequency bands in use
Aircel	4
Airtel	9
BSNL	11
Idea Cellular	4
Jio	6
MTNL	4
Reliance Communications	3
Tata DOCOMO	3
Vodafone	10

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Frequencies in use

GSM

Name	Interface
900 MHz (E-GSM)	GSM
1800 MHz (DCS)	GSM

UMTS

Name	Interface
B1 (2100 MHz)	UMTS
B8 (900 MHz GSM)	UMTS

LTE

Name	Interface
B1 (2100 MHz)	LTE
B3 (1800 MHz +)	LTE
B5 (850 MHz)	LTE
B8 (900 MHz)	LTE
B28 (700 MHz APT)	LTE
B40 (TD 2300 MHz)	LTE
B41 (TD 2500 MHz)	LTE

5G NR

Name	Interface
N28 (700 MHz)	5G NR
N78 (3500 MHz)	5G NR
N258 (mmWave 26 GHz)	5G NR

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