Bharti Airtel, popularly known to us as simply Airtel, is gearing up to tackle the rapidly scaling 4G services of a new arch-nemesis Jio. The company announced on Friday that it has deployed their 4G Advanced technology in major cities across Tamil Nadu. It has now joined a select group of global telecom carriers to commercially deploy this 4G technology in their operating region.
Launched as part of Airtel’s ongoing network transformation program called Project Leap, it will enable the company to deliver mobile broadband speeds of up to 135 Mbps, and shamble Jio’s promises of free high-speed internet services round the clock.
The company has picked Tamil Nadu as their experimental playground as Chennai, the capital, was one of the very first cities to receive 4G services in May 2015. Airtel has then deployed the 1800 Mhz band using the FDD (frequency division duplex) LTE standard, followed by the addition of 2300 Mhz band using TD (time division) LTE to increase the capacity of the network.
But, for the deployment of its 4G advanced services, the telecom carrier adds that the capacities of both aforementioned standards will work in tandem to enable better spectrum utilization and efficiency. The country-wide deployment of this technology will result in a superior 4G experience both indoors and outdoors. Customers who own devices supporting 4G Advanced will be able to experience considerably faster internet speeds and better coverage as compared to other service providers.
Commenting on the test launch of the service in Tamil Nadu, George Mathen, Hub CEO – Kerala & Tamil Nadu, Bharti Airtel, said,
We launched Tamil Nadu’s first 4G network in 2015 and with the deployment of 4G advanced we are all set to deliver a superior mobile broadband experience to our customers. With 4G Advanced, customers in the state can look forward to considerably improved data speeds and better coverage. We will extend the deployment of 4G Advanced across identified towns in Tamil Nadu in the coming months.
In the official press release, Airtel details that it plans to invest about Rs 60,000 crores (approx. $8.75 billion) over the next three years to upgrade its carrier technology and meet the ever-growing demand for voice and high-speed data services in the country. This initiative will also enable the company to connect the next million users of India to the internet. This advanced and improved 4G experience is now available to customers in Chennai, Madurai, Hosur, Vellore, Pondy, Trichy, Coimbatore, Salem & Tiruppur.
