Bharti Airtel on Thursday said its 5G services have gone live in eight cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi.

The customer availing 5G services will have to pay as per their existing 4G plan, it said.

"Airtel has been at the forefront of India's telecom revolution for the last 27 years. Today marks one more step in our journey as we build out the finest network to deliver the best experience for our customers.

"For us, our customers are at the core of everything we do. Our solution will therefore work on any 5G handset and the existing SIM that customers have," Bharti Airtel Managing Director and CEO Gopal Vittal said in a statement.

Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal had announced launch of 5G service in 8 cities on October 1.

A company spokesperson said that customer will be able to avail the services as per their 4G plan.

Airtel subscribers getting 5G signals in their area can switch to 5G but if they find that 5G is consuming high data than can switch back to 4G network.

"Access to 5G is optional," the spokesperson said.

At present, 5G models of Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Realme and OnePlus are compatible with Airtel 5G Plus service.

The compatible models include Samsung's flagship devices including Fold series, Galaxy S 22 series, Samsung M32, iPhone 12 series and later models, Realme 8s 5G, Realme X7 series, Realme narzo series, Vivo X50 onwards smartphones, Vivo IQOO series, Oppo Reno5G Pro and other device in same series launched later, OnePlus 8 and beyond smartphones etc.

Mobile subscribers will get up to 600 megabit per second speed in 5G network during the launch phase and handsets are expected to work at par with professional computers for accessing apps and data processing, according to industry players.

Bharti Airtel competitor Reliance Jio is providing unlimited 5G data during the beta trial to select customers having a 5G smartphone.