Bharti Airtel is re-allocating mid-band spectrum in its existing bands, the company announced on Monday, in a move aimed at meeting the growing traffic demand for its 5G network. As a result, four bands in its mid-band spectrum are being re-allocated to support newer technologies that cater to 5G services offered by Airtel. The move comes days after the company, along with Nokia, announced the completion of the 5G non-standalone (NSA) Cloud RAN trial in India.
Airtel 5G Network Expansion
In a press releaseAirtel revealed that its re-farming initiative includes the expansion of 5G services on its 1800, 2100 and 2300 MHz bands. Notably, these bands were earlier used for 4G network coverage. Following this move, the company promises faster browsing speeds and improved indoor network coverage for users amid increasing data demand.
Re-farming in particular is a process used to repurpose or reallocate existing network bands to support newer technologies. Telecommunications companies can identify which network spectrums are underutilized or not being used at all and then implement a process for their transition. Users can then be switched to these bands while the company continues to optimize them for data speeds and efficiency.
Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technical Officer, Bharti Airtel, said: “As more and more customers switch to our 5G services, we have repurposed our mid-band spectrum, which was being used for 4G services.”
Airtel says it has successfully piloted standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network switches in Rewari, Chennai and Bhubaneswar. While SA 5G networks operate independently of 4G networks, NSA involves deploying 5G infrastructure over existing 4G coverage.
This would allow the company to introduce new services and solutions through open APIs and service-based architecture. According to the company, smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) can implement the use of both SA and NSA modes, depending on availability and network speeds.
Additionally, Airtel says OEMs can also take advantage of its carrier aggregation functionality, which combines multiple bands to deliver higher data speeds and better coverage.
