Bharti Airtel has begun the process of shutting down its 3G services and migrating such customers to its 4G network. The company on Friday became the first incumbent telecom operator to have shut down its 3G network in Kolkata and said that it has refarmed the 900 MHz spectrum being used for 3G to further strengthen its 4G network.
The 3G technology, which came into the country only around 2011, has thus seen the fastest eclipse.
Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, said, “Going forward, we plan to refarm all of our 3G spectrum across India and deploy it for 4G in a phased manner.” Sources said that in the next six months, the complete 3G network will be shut down and subscribers moved to 4G.
Bharti’s Volte (voice over long-term evolution) traffic, which has seen a substantial jump in the last one year, will get a further leg-up due to this initiative. From being negligible in December 2017, today around 40-50% of Bharti’s voice traffic moves on its Volte network. This will further increase as 3G networks are shut down and users are moved to 4G. Already, at 50% of Volte traffic, the global average has been achieved by the company.
Bharti will continue to have 2G subscribers as they comprise around 70% of its total subscriber base and migrating them to 4G will not be as easy as the 3G users since they do not have smartphones. However, the company has started the process of weeding out low paying 2G subscribers by making it mandatory that customers recharge every month for a minimum Rs 35 voucher.
“Airtel will continue to provide 2G service in Kolkata to serve the connectivity needs of customers on feature phones. All customers on 3G were duly notified and requested to upgrade their handsets/SIMs to continue enjoying best-in-class smartphone experience. 3G customers who are yet to upgrade their handsets/SIMs will continue to get access to high quality voice services,” the company said in a statement. Reliance Jio is the only operator which has fully 4G network and subscriber base.
RELATED POSTS
View all
