- By Prateek Levi
- Thu, 21 May 2026 07:26 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Vi the Indian telecom firm, has made public the second round of deployment of its 5G service in India by choosing to roll out the services to cities and towns located in the eastern part of the country.
According to the announcement made by Vi, 5G services have been launched in Malda, Haldia, and Berhampur, and the next round of launch will be carried out in cities such as Durgapur, Asansol, Habra-Ashoknagar, Burdwan, Kharagpur, Gangtok, and Darjeeling. With this rollout, the current deployment phase will extend across 10 cities in the eastern region.
According to Vi, the company is focusing on areas that see strong data usage and growing digital demand. The operator said the expansion includes industrial centres such as Durgapur and Asansol, commercial and port-linked regions like Haldia, and tourism-driven locations including Darjeeling and Gangtok.
The latest rollout builds on Vi’s larger 5G expansion roadmap announced earlier this year. In March, the telecom company said it planned to introduce 5G services in 90 additional cities by May 2026. At the time, Vi stated that its 5G network was already available across 43 cities spanning 17 telecom circles, with plans to increase that number to 133 cities across 15 circles.
As part of the broader rollout strategy, Vi identified multiple states and regions for expansion, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Haryana, and Gujarat.
The telecom operator had earlier named Durgapur, Asansol, Darjeeling, and Gangtok among the eastern cities scheduled to receive 5G services. Other cities listed in the expansion roadmap included Varanasi, Prayagraj, Haridwar, Karnal, Panipat, Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Jalandhar. Vi also outlined deployment plans for several southern, western, and central Indian cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Tirupati, Kolhapur, Kota, Udaipur, Bhopal, and Gwalior.
Vi previously said it is working with network partners Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung to expand its 5G infrastructure in regions where demand for high-speed connectivity and compatible smartphones is steadily rising.
With the latest additions in West Bengal and nearby markets, Vi continues moving toward its target of bringing 5G connectivity to more than 100 cities across India.