Airtel rolls out additional 28.2MHz spectrum in Uttar Pradesh (East) to boost data capacity

Bharti Airtel Monday said it has rolled out an additional 28.2MHz of spectrum in Uttar Pradesh (East) along with advanced network software tools to bolster its high-speed data capacity in the state.

Of 28.2MHz, Airtel has deployed an additional 5MHz spectrum in the 900MHz band, 3.2MHz in 1800MHz band and 20MHz in 2300MHz band to improve network availability and data speeds along with better coverage inside homes and buildings in cities and urban areas, as per an official statement.

The deployment will further enable it to offer wider coverage along highways and rail routes, as well as increase footprint in villages as more people, access high-speed data services, the statement added.

The Sunil Mittal-led telco has also deployed advanced network technologies and tools such as pre-5G Massive MIMO, 4G Advanced and Carrier Aggregation for enhancing high-speed network capacity and coverage.

To be sure, Airtel had acquired 28.2MHz of spectrum for Uttar Pradesh (East) during the spectrum auctions conducted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in March this year.

With this new spectrum holding, Airtel has the largest spectrum bank of 72.2MHz in Uttar Pradesh (East) across 2300/2100/1800/900 bands, making its network fully-ready for 5G, it said.

“We are aggressively expanding our network in Uttar Pradesh (East) by investing in new spectrum and network upgrades to provide a world-class service experience to our customers. We are driven by the vision to provide ubiquitous connectivity to our rural and urban customers alike. Airtel now has the largest spectrum bank in Uttar Pradesh (East) and our future ready network is well positioned to meet the surging demand for high speed data,” said Shailendra Singh, CEO, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Bharti Airtel.