Indian mobile carrier Vodafone Idea (Vi) has announced plans to expand its 5G coverage to 90 more cities by May.

This will see the telco increase its 5G footprint from 43 cities to 133 nationwide.

The carrier, which only launched 5G in March of last year, confirmed it will extend its coverage rollout across 15 key regions, which include Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), and Kolkata and West Bengal.

Vi said it's working with its vendor partners, Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung, to leverage AI-powered self-optimizing networks (SON) across these regions.

“As we mark one year of Vi’s 5G journey, our focus remains on executing a phased and calibrated rollout, aligned with network readiness and evolving customer demands," said Jagbir Singh, chief technology officer at Vodafone Idea.

“This expansion to 90 more cities is in line with our strategy of prioritizing 5G rollouts in key markets with higher penetration of 5G devices. With this phase of rollout, we are significantly augmenting our 5G network in prime cities as well as deepening our Tier 2 and Tier 3 presence."

Vi's financial challenges have heavily impacted the company's 5G rollout, which came two-and-a-half years behind schedule.

Rival domestic telcos Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel launched their 5G networks in October 2022. There are an estimated 400 million 5G users in India being served by the country's telcos.

The carrier, founded in 2018 following the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, announced Abhijit Kishore as its CEO last summer. He replaced Akshaya Moondra, who spent three years at the helm.