Bharti Airtel deploys additional 15MHz spectrum in Kerala

Bharti Airtel Thursday said it has deployed an additional 15MHz spectrum in Kerala to bolster its high-speed data capacity.

“Airtel has deployed an additional 5MHz spectrum in the 1800MHz and 10MHz in 2300MHz band along with advanced network software tools across its network in the state to significantly bolster high-speed data capacity,” it said in a statement.

The network software and tools include pre-5G Massive MIMO, 4G Advanced, and Carrier Aggregation.

According to the Sunil Mittal-led telco, the additional spectrum deployment will enable improved network availability and data speeds with better coverage inside homes and buildings in cities and urban areas.

To be sure, Airtel had acquired 1800, 2300, and 900MHz spectrum for Kerala during the recent auctions conducted by the Government of India in March.

“With its diverse spectrum holdings across 1800 FDD, 2100 FDD, 2300 TDD, 900 FDD, the company is well-positioned to serve the growing demand for high-speed data services and its network is fully ready for 5G,” it added.

“Airtel is expanding its network with the same commitment to performance and reliability for which it has long been recognized and endorsed by the customers in Kerala… The additional network deployment and new technology upgrades will massively enhance our network capacity to serve the growing data requirement of customers,” said Marut Dilwari, COO – Kerala, Bharti Airtel.

Airtel, which is India’s second-largest telco, rolled out an additional 11.2MHz and 5MHz of 1800MHz airwaves in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, respectively, on Monday.

It is set to add airwaves in the 900 MHz band in Gujarat, UP-East, Kerala, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand to boost high-speed data capacity, a senior executive told ET recently.