Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said on Saturday that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio's efforts to push 4G technology in India forced him to "catch up".
"I would like to remind Mukesh (Ambani) when he gave a lot of pace to 4G and we had run very fast to catch up with it. When COVID hit, the pulse of this nation did not stop even for a minute. Our work continued round the clock and its credit goes to Digital Mission," Mittal said," Mr Mittal said at the Indian Mobile Congress in New Delhi where 5G services were launched in India.
Chiefs of three telecom giants - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - were united at the event as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the fifth generation (5G) services in the country.
Mr Ambani, Mr Mittal and Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, reiterated PM Modi's Digital India vision and stressed the importance of 5G technology for both civilian use and also for industrial purposes.
Mr Mittal also praised PM Modi's understanding of technology and its importance to the progress of India.
"We are proud and very fortunate that we have amongst us a leader who understands technology meticulously. Many leaders appreciate technology but its granular understanding and linking it for the progress of the country, according to me what Modi Ji can do no one else will be able to do," he said as quoted by news agency PTI.
Bharti Airtel's 5G service will be available in eight cities from Saturday, Mr Mittal said. Airtel will roll out 5G services in several cities across the country by March 2023 and across India by March 2024.
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