Airtel 5G to Get Bolstered With Capital Investments

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecommunications service provider, announced its largest 5G rollout to date on Friday. Airtel has added 235 new cities to its Network, taking the total number of cities with Airtel 5G Plus to over 500 in the country. To recollect, Bharti Airtel was the first to announce and launch 5G services in India in October 2022. However, Bharti Airtel still caters to 2G customers. Airtel currently offers 2G, 4G and 5G services to customers in India, and Airtel 5G to get bolstered with investments shifting towards 5G Networks from 4G.

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Also Read: Airtel 5G Plus Now Live In Over 500 Cities: Check Complete List

Airtel 5G Plus to Get Bolstered with Capital Investments

Bharti Airtel is redirecting its capital investments to the next-generation 5G Networks from 4G, as it makes more sense for the telco to focus on 5G, which offers next-generation network experience and capacity to subscribers with growing data usage. Airtel will invest more in 5G by shifting investments from 4G, according to a report by ET Telecom.

Airtel to Serve 2G Customers

Airtel has no plans to shut down the legacy 2G Network because the Radios of Airtel run on a single Radio Access Network (RAN), and it doesn’t cost much for the telco, according to the report which quoted Airtel Chief Technology Officer Randeep Sekhon. Airtel’s CTO said the 2G Network still caters to a meaningful 2G user base, and shutting down 2G would mean denying 2G device users access to the Network.

Also Read: Airtel Launches Unlimited Data Offer for Its 5G Customers

2G Users in India and Network Maintenance

Of India’s 300-350 million feature phone users using 2G, less than 100 million are on Airtel Network. So, shutting down 2G means denying access to around 100 million 2G device users. Sekhon also added that maintaining 2G Networks costs less, considering the annual maintenance and power expenses. Also, no new spectrum is required to offer the service, thereby keeping the costs very low for maintaining the 2G Networks.