Reliance Jio, India’s number one telecom operator, has just deployed 15 MHz of spectrum in the state of Karnataka. The additional spectrum will help the telco in improving its services in the state. With this deployment, the bandwidth for the telco in the 850 MHz band will be doubled. At the same time, the 2300 MHz band will see a 25% improvement in the bandwidth. This will be a significant improvement in the telco’s networks, and the people living in heavily crowded cities of the state, including Bangalore, will appreciate Jio’s move.
Reliance Jio’s Spectrum Portfolio in Karnataka
Reliance Jio’s spectrum portfolio in Karnataka consists of 5 MHz bandwidth in the 850 MHz band, 5 MHz in the 1800 MHz band, and 10 MHz in the 2300 MHz band. According to an official statement from the company, Jio has deployed the above-mentioned spectrum in all of the 22.3k telecom sites present in the state.
Jio said that spectrum augmentation at such a scale would certainly help in improving the network experience of the users living in the state. With time, the demand for 4G services has shot up everywhere in the country. To help Karnataka with the increasing demand, Jio has said that it is improving its 4G in the state by 28% in 2021.
It is worth noting that Jio acquired a total of 488.35 MHz of airwaves across several bands in the recent spectrum auctions. For the same, Jio spent Rs 57,123 crore. The telco has been using the additional spectrum purchased from the auction and is deploying it on several circles of the country in a phased manner.
Jio had said that its additional spectrum would help the company add and serve over 300 million additional customers. At present, Jio has over 2.1 crore customers in Karnataka. With enhanced services, users might port to Jio because of the low tariff rates. The telco is also 5G ready, and many believe that it can be the first company to bring 5G to India. As per the annual report shared by Jio, the telco had 426 million subscribers at the end of FY2020-21, which is the most for any telecom operator by a long margin.
