After Airtel and Jio, now VI has also started 5G services in India. The VI 5G launched in Mumbai Circle, and will roll out to four more circles: Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, and Punjab. Being a Vodafone Idea user, this is a great news as you will get the next era of high speed internet and communications. The details of VI 5G launch, and rollout date with plans have been shared by the officials on myvi.in/5g-network and it is now available in 5 areas!
Vodafone Idea (Vi) has also started making its presence felt in the race for 5G technology in India. After trial deployment in select cities from December 2024, Vi has now commercially launched its 5G services in Mumbai in March 2025 and with basic plan users can use unlimited 5G for now. By the end of April 2025, the service has also been made available in telecom circles like Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka and Punjab. But will Vi be able to compete with major players like Jio and Airtel? Let’s know in detail.
Current status of Vi 5G
Vi has started trial of 5G services in 17 telecom circles following the Minimum Rollout Obligation (MRO) guidelines set by the government. These include cities like Delhi’s Okhla Industrial Area, India Gate, Pragati Maidan, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Karnal, Agra and Indore. Vi has built a 5G network using 3.3GHz and 26GHz (mmWave) spectrum bands, although only the 3.3GHz band is being used in Bihar.
As reported by Tanay Sing Thakur on Telecom Talk, After the commercial launch in Mumbai in March 2025, Vi will launch 5G services in four more circles in April 2025. The company aims to upgrade 75,000 4G sites to 5G in the next three years, covering the top 75 cities in the country.
Vi 5G technology and speed
Vi has opted for Non-Standalone (NSA) architecture for its 5G network and has partnered with companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung for this. NSA 5G means, it is not pure 5G, the company(VI) will use 4G infrastructure to provide 5G speed in their initial 5G deployments to its users just like Airtel.
During the trial, VI has reported that a peak speed of 5.92Gbps was achieved in Pune, while Bengaluru and Gandhinagar saw download speeds of 1.2Gbps and 100Mbps respectively. This makes it clear that Vi’s 5G network is capable of providing a faster internet experience in both urban and rural areas.
Vi 5G Plans and Price
Vi has tried to make its 5G plans competitive. As published on Livemint, the company plans to offer plans up to 15% cheaper than Jio and Airtel. Even we have also cross-verified the pricing of VI unlimited 5G plans on myvi.in and found that they are indeed more affordable than those of existing 5G providers.
Currently, Vi’s prepaid users who take plans of ₹299 or above, and Postpaid users whose plans are ₹451 or more, are getting the unlimited 5G facility at no additional cost.
- Vi unlimited 5G plans (Prepaid):
- ₹299, 1 GB/day, Unlimited Calls, 28 days validity
- ₹349, 1.5 GB/day, Unlimited Calls, 28 days validity
- ₹365, 2 GB/day, Unlimited Calls, 28 days validity
- ₹3599, 2 GB/day, Unlimited Calls, 365 days validity + Weekend Data Rollover
- Vi unlimited 5G plans (Postpaid):
- ₹451, 50GB, Unlimited Night (12-6 AM), 200 GB Rollover + 1 streaming app
- ₹551, 90GB, Unlimited Night (12-6 AM), 200 GB Rollover + 2 streaming app
- ₹751, 150GB, Unlimited Night (12-6 AM), 200 GB Rollover + 3 streaming app
Note: The unlimited 5G data is subject to Vi’s Fair Usage Policy (FUP), typically around 300GB/month, after which speeds may be throttled (e.g., to 64 Kbps). This applies to both prepaid and postpaid plans offering unlimited 5G.
Challenges and Competition
Vi has been a late entrant in the 5G market. Jio and Airtel started 5G services only in October 2022 and have so far reached 148 million and 90 million users respectively. This delay has led to a decline in Vi’s market share—from 19.92% in July 2023 to 18.46% in July 2024.
In addition, Vi is also facing financial challenges. The company owes ₹135 billion in debt to tower and equipment vendors. However, Vi has accelerated its 5G plans after the government took a 33.5% stake and raised ₹24,000 crore in funding.
User response
Vi 5G is receiving mixed reactions on social media. Some users in Mumbai have praised the 5G speed, while users in states like Kerala are still disappointed with the lack of 5G coverage.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) users in several major cities, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Pune, experienced a brief network outage in the early hours of Friday, April 18. The disruption, which began around 12:30 am and peaked shortly after 1:00 am, was caused by a technical glitch.
The VI team is still working on the 5G network, and slow speeds or network outages will remain a problem for a few years. Expansion takes time and it seems that everything will be fine by the end of 2026.
Conclusion
Vi’s 5G rollout is still in the early stages, but the company plans to expand it to major cities in the country by the end of 2025. If Vi manages to woo consumers with its competitive pricing and better network coverage, it could become a strong player in India’s 5G market.
Vi users can check the coverage in their area, use a 5G-powered handset with SA and NSA support and eligible plan to take advantage of 5G. Keep following the official website https://www.myvi.in/5g-network or VI app for more exclusive updates from Vi in the coming times.
