Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecom operator, has announced that it is refarming mid-band spectrum to meet the exponential growth in 5G traffic. As more customers move to use 5G network services, Airtel has decided to refarm the 1800, 2100, and 2300 MHz bands for 5G services. If you want to know what this will do - it will enhance the browsing speeds in addition to improved indoor coverage. Airtel will switch the 4G spectrum to 5G, just like in the past 3G spectrum was refarmed for 4G services by the Indian telcos.
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Bharti Airtel Also Ready to Launch 5G SA
Bharti Airtel has also said that they are ready to launch 5G standalone network services in India. The pilot for the NSA and SA switch has already been conducted in Rewari, Chennai and Bhubaneswar. Airtel's CEO, Gopal Vittal, previously said that they are deploying 5G SA in select cities to offer FWA (fixed-wireless access) services on top of it.
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"As more customers pivot to our 5G services, we have re-farmed our mid band spectrum which was being used for 4G services. With this we are also ready to launch Stand-alone technology. This will mean that the Airtel network will be the first network in India to run on both stand-alone and non-standalone modes allowing us to deliver the best experience in the market," said Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel.
Bharti Airtel has already launched 5G throughout the country and its services are now available in 28 states and 8 union territories. Airtel's 5G susbcriber base at the end of March 31, 2024 was 72 million. It will be interesting to see the growth in numbers in Q1 FY25. Airtel is now bundling 5G as an add-on benefit for prepaid users who are recharging with 2GB daily data plans and more.
