As it expands its 900Mhz 4G LTE technology to more and more regions, Airtel has now announced that it is phasing out its 3G technology in the country by shutting down its 3G network in Kolkata. The company says its mobile broadband services will now able to provide high speeds on 4G.
The latest Airtel move comes as a means to expand its coverage of 900Mhz 4G LTE technology which has been upgraded from the 900 MHz band spectrum that was used for 3G. The L900 technology in the 900 MHz spectrum band will compliment Airtel’s existing 4G services in the 2300 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands.
Airtel has mentioned that it will continue to provide 2G services in Kolkata to serve the connectivity needs of customers on feature phones.
With 900Mhz 4G LTE technology, Airtel users will now be able to get improved 4G availability inside buildings – homes, offices and malls. It will also result in wider availability of Airtel 4Gand a superior network experience across Kolkata.
Speaking about the development, Bharti Airtel CTO, Randeep Sekhon said “This is in line with our stated strategy of focusing on serving quality customers with the best-in-class service experience. Going forward, we plan to re-farm all of our 3G spectrum across India and deploy it for 4G in a phased manner. Also, it complements the smartphone ecosystem, which has now gravitated overwhelmingly towards 4G only devices”.
Airtel informs that it notified all users on 3G to upgrade their handsets/SIMs to continue getting services. 3G customers who are yet to upgrade their handsets/SIMs will continue to get access to voice services.
Prior to this, Airtel launched its 4G services in the Lakshadweep Islands and became the first mobile operator to launch high-speed data services on the tropical archipelago. The company also announced that it has extended Airtel Thanks benefits to its ‘V-Fiber’ Home Broadband users subscribed to the Rs 1,099 plan or higher.