Bharti Airtel surpassed 50 million 5G subscribers a month after Indian rival Reliance Jio claimed the number, with both operators hitting the figure less than 12 months after beginning to roll out the technology.

Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon expressed happiness at the rate of uptake in a statement.

“We are thrilled at the speed of adoption to 5G by millions of our customers and we are reaching this milestone earlier than planned.”

The service covers all districts in the country, across 28 states and eight union territories.

Airtel hit the 10 million-mark in June.

In August, rival Jio detailed plans to deploy nearly 1 million 5G base stations and provide nationwide coverage by December.

GSMA Intelligence data showed Jio closed September with 457 million mobile connections and Airtel 341 million.