Vodafone Idea expands 5G to Chandigarh and Patna

U Mobile defended its qualifications to run the country’s second 5G network on Sunday after enduring a week of criticism from rivals, industry analysts and politicians who expressed bafflement at the government’s decision to give U Mobile the nod.

Indian telco Bharti Airtel is reportedly coordinating with Google to use its platform to launch rich communication services (RCS) messaging – making it the last of India’s private telcos to do so – once anti-spam measures are sorted out.