Indian telco Bharti Airtel announced on Monday that it has started refarming its existing 4G mid-band spectrum to support migration of 4G customers to 5G services, as well as its planned launch of standalone (SA) 5G.
Airtel said it is refarming spectrum on its 1800, 2100 and 2300 MHz bands across the country to expand 5G services and support 4G customers who are pivoting to its 5G offering. Airtel also said the refarmed spectrum will give 5G customers enhanced browsing and better indoor coverage.
The refarming move comes a month after Airtel bought 97 MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands for Rs 68.57 billion as part of India’s latest 5G spectrum auction. Like other bidders, Airtel opted to focus on bolstering its mid-band spectrum pool rather than buy spectrum in 5G-specific bands.
Bharti Airtel CTO Randeep Sekhon added that the refarming move is also part of its preparation to launch 5G SA technology to complement its existing non-standalone (NSA) 5G network.
Sekhon said Airtel has been trialing a pilot in Rewari, Chennai and Bhubaneswar to test switching between SA and NSA 5G. He said the results were “encouraging”, and that this capability would enable Airtel to introduce new innovative applications, services and solutions through open APIs, differentiated connectivity and a service-based architecture.
“This will mean that the Airtel network will be the first network in India to run on both standalone and non-standalone modes allowing us to deliver the best experience in the market,” he said in a statement.
