Vi’s Major 5G Expansion in West Bengal Targets 10 Cities as Network Rollout Accelerates Across India
Quick Highlights
Vodafone Idea is accelerating its long-awaited 5G rollout strategy with a fresh expansion across eastern India.
The telecom operator has officially started rolling out Vi 5G services in West Bengal, adding new cities while confirming that several additional locations will receive next-generation connectivity in the coming weeks. The latest move is part of Vi’s broader national expansion roadmap aimed at strengthening its presence in high-demand urban and industrial markets.
The rollout comes at a critical time for the company as competition in India’s telecom market intensifies, especially with rivals rapidly expanding standalone 5G infrastructure and AI-powered network services.
The latest expansion also follows the industry-wide push toward smarter connected ecosystems, especially after Android Auto Gets a Major AI Upgrade in 2026: YouTube, Dolby Atmos, and Immersive 3D Maps highlighted how faster mobile networks are becoming increasingly important for connected experiences.
Vi Begins 5G Rollout in New West Bengal Cities
Vodafone Idea confirmed that Malda, Haldia, and Berhampur are now receiving Vi 5G connectivity as part of the company’s latest expansion phase.
The operator also announced that additional cities including Durgapur, Asansol, Habra-Ashoknagar, Burdwan, Kharagpur, Gangtok, and Darjeeling will soon join the rollout roadmap.
The strategy clearly shows Vi focusing on regions with growing data demand, expanding urban infrastructure, and industrial activity.
Industrial zones like Durgapur and Asansol are particularly important because of increasing enterprise connectivity requirements, while tourism-heavy markets such as Darjeeling and Gangtok could see rising demand for high-speed mobile networks during peak travel seasons.
Vi Is Prioritising High-Demand and Industrial Markets
Unlike earlier telecom expansion phases that mainly focused on metro cities, Vi says its current rollout approach is designed around usage patterns and economic activity.
The company specifically highlighted:
- industrial corridors
- port-linked commercial regions
- urban growth centres
- tourism-heavy locations
- high data consumption zones
That makes strategic sense for Vi, especially as telecom operators increasingly compete on network quality, latency, and premium data experiences instead of only subscriber numbers.
The demand for stronger 5G infrastructure is also growing alongside AI-driven services and connected device ecosystems, particularly after Google Search Is Getting an AI-Heavy Makeover With Conversational Search, Smart Widgets, and Gemini Integration showcased how cloud-connected AI experiences are becoming more bandwidth-intensive.
Vi’s Larger Nationwide 5G Rollout Is Still Expanding
The latest West Bengal rollout is only one part of Vi’s broader nationwide deployment roadmap.
Back in March, the telecom operator announced plans to expand 5G coverage to 90 additional cities by May 2026. At the time, the company said it had already launched services across 43 cities spanning 17 telecom circles.
Vi expects that number to eventually rise to more than 130 cities as expansion continues.
The company previously identified several regions for rollout, including:
- Delhi
- Mumbai
- Kolkata
- Maharashtra
- Tamil Nadu
- Gujarat
- Madhya Pradesh
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Uttar Pradesh
- Kerala
Cities such as Bhopal, Gwalior, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chennai, and Hyderabad were also included in earlier rollout plans.
Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung Are Powering Vi’s 5G Expansion
Vi says it is working with Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung to deploy its 5G infrastructure across India.
Those partnerships are critical because large-scale 5G expansion requires:
- spectrum optimisation
- radio equipment deployment
- network software integration
- cloud infrastructure scaling
- low-latency performance tuning
The company is also trying to improve network competitiveness at a time when Indian telecom users are placing far greater emphasis on real-world 5G performance, especially for gaming, streaming, AI services, and connected device ecosystems.
That growing dependence on AI-integrated mobile experiences is becoming increasingly visible across Android platforms as well, especially after Google I/O 2026: Wear OS 7 Announced With Gemini Intelligence, Wear Widgets, Live Updates, More introduced deeper AI-powered connectivity across devices.
TechularZtrix Take
Vi’s 5G rollout may still trail behind rivals in overall scale, but the company finally appears to be moving more aggressively with expansion.
The focus on industrial markets and emerging urban regions is a smart approach because those areas are seeing rapidly increasing demand for high-speed mobile connectivity without always receiving immediate priority from telecom operators.
The real challenge for Vi now will be execution consistency.
Expanding to more cities is important, but maintaining stable speeds, network reliability, and low congestion will matter far more in the long run — especially as AI-powered apps, cloud gaming, and connected services continue to increase mobile data consumption across India.
For official rollout updates and plans, visit: Vi Official Website
