Airtel Embraces 4G In A Massive Way – After Kolkata, Airtel’s 3G Will Be Shut Down Across India

Telecom market leader Airtel has clearly understood the future, and this is the reason that their 3G network is being gradually phased out, pan-India.

After Kolkata become Airtel’s first telecom circle in India to get complete 3G shut down, 3G network will now face shutdown pan-India.

This can be described as Airtel’s one of the biggest 4G push ever.

Airtel Shuts Down 3G In Kolkata

Last month, Airtel declared that they will be shutting down 3G services entirely in Kolkata. This was the first such instance when a telecom firm closed down 3G completely in a telecom circle.

Every user has been notified to upgrade their SIM to 4G. In case any user hasn’t upgraded, then they won’t be able to use data services, and only voice services can be accessible.

At the same time, 2G services are still on in Kolkata, for providing network coverage to feature phone users.

Why Airtel Is Shutting Down 3G Services?

The reason is their relentless push towards 4G coverage, pan-India.

After Kolkata, reports are coming in that Airtel will now shutdown 3G services across India, and by Match 2020, all 22 telecom circles will have zero 3G coverage, and 100% 4G network. This has been confirmed by Bharti Airtel chief executive Gopal Vittal during post-earnings call with analysts last month.

Randeep Sekhon, CTO – Bharti Airtel said: “This is in line with our stated strategy of focusing on serving quality customers with best-in-class service experience. Going forward, we plan to re-farm all of our 3G spectrum across India and deploy it for 4G in a phased manner. Also, it complements the smartphone ecosystem, which has now gravitated overwhelmingly towards 4G only devices.”

How Will Airtel Users Benefit?

By shutting down 3G coverage in Kolkata, and then gradually pan-India, Airtel users will be able to experience ultra-high quality voice and data services, under the 4G network.

Infact, Airtel has some daring plans to refarm entire 900 Mhz spectrum which is currently used for 3G network. State of the art L900 technology in the 900 MHz band will be no used to provide 4G services, and complement the existing 2300 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands.

As we have shared earlier, LTE 900 technology from Airtel will enable deeper, and stronger coverage, even within lifts and inside the buildings, which translates to better customer experience and enriched data speed.

It would be interesting to observe how this move helps Airtel to increase their data speed, which is already way ahead of other telecom providers (as per our own speed tests)

We will keep you updated, as we receive more updates.

Also Read: What Is Airtel Thanks Platinum Membership & What Are Its 7 Biggest Benefits?