‘We were forced to catch up’: Sunil Mittal's praise for Mukesh Ambani

“He gave a lot of pace to 4G, and we had to run very fast to catch up,” the Airtel chief said in presence of his Reliance counterpart.

They may be competitors in the telecom sector, but Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio's efforts to push 4G technology in the country ‘forced Airtel to catch up.’

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises Ltd., attends the India Mobile Congress 2022 in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. (Bloomberg)

“I would like to remind Mukesh, when he gave a lot of pace to 4G, and we had to run very fast to catch up with it. When Covid hit, the pulse of the nation did not stop even for a minute. Our work continued round the clock and its credit goes to Digital Mission,” Mittal said, as per NDTV.

The sixty-four-year-old business executive was speaking on the occasion of launch of 5G services in India. The next-generation technology was launched by prime minister Narendra Modi on the opening day of the sixth edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) at the iconic Pragati Maidan in the national capital.

For the launch, present on the dais with PM Modi were Ambani, Mittal, and Kumar Mangalam Birla, founder-chairperson, Vodafone Idea.

Airtel's 5G services in India

Addressing the audience, Sunil Mittal announced Airtel is making its 5G network available, with immediate effect, in 8 cities: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata Mumbai, Siliguri and Varanasi.

The network will be progressively expanded across the entire country by March 2024, he further said.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio's 5G services – ‘world’s largest' – will be rolled out by Diwali, and cover the remotest corners of India by December 2023. Vodafone Idea, too, will introduce its services soon.