Airtel re-farms mid band spectrum for 5G traffic, pilots standalone tech

New Delhi, July 29: Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has started re-farming its existing mid-band spectrum to accommodate the growing traffic demand on its 5G network in the country. With more customers moving to the 5G network, Airtel is re-farming its mid-band spectrum to expand 5G services on its 1800, 2100, 2300 MHz bands across the country, it said in a statement.

As a result, customers can enjoy enhanced browsing speeds in addition to improved indoor coverage. According to the company, as data demand grows, it is re-farming its existing spectrum at a faster pace to provide its customers with a brilliant 5G experience. “As more customers pivot to our 5G services, we have re-farmed our mid band spectrum which was being used for 4G services,” said Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel.

“With this, we are also ready to launch standalone technology. This will mean that the Airtel network will be the first network in India to run on both stand-alone and non-standalone modes allowing us to deliver the best experience in the market,” he noted. The pilot on the SA and NSA switch has been conducted in Rewari, Chennai and Bhubaneswar and the results have been encouraging, said Airtel.

This capability on the 5G network will enable Airtel to introduce new innovative applications, services and solutions through open APIs, differentiated connectivity and service-based architecture. Spectrum re-farming offers re-purposing of spectrum bands for existing spectrum resources, according to the needs of different system standards.

Airtel’s 5G roll-out has been one of the fastest in the country and is now available across all 28 states and eight union territories.