Airtel shuts down 3G network in Kolkata from today

Kolkata, 28 June (HS) : In one of the first phase outs of 3G technology globally, Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”) here today announced the shutdown of its 3G network in Kolkata as Airtel mobile broadband services in the city will now be available on high speed 4G.

Informing this Randeep Sekhon,Chief Technical Officer(CTO), Bharti Airtel told Hindusthan Samachar here today that  following its decision Airtel had now refarmed its 900 MHz band spectrum,which was till recently  used for 3G, to further strengthen its 4G network. ‘The Company is deploying state-of-the-art L900 technology in the 900 MHz band to complement its 4G services in the 2300 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands’ for this purpose, he informed further.

Moreover, Sekhon said following the deployment of L900, Airtel smartphone customers would now be able to enjoy improved 4G availability inside all buildings,homes,offices and malls.It would also result in wider availability of Airtel 4G and a superior network experience across this Eastern Metropolis.

This was in line with the company’s strategy of focusing on serving quality customers with best-in-class service experience,Sekhon said and added ‘going forward, we plan to re-farm all of our 3G spectrum across India and deploy it for 4G in a phased manner’.

But at the same time, he said, Airtel would continue to provide 2G services in Kolkata to serve the connectivity needs of customers on feature phones.

Accordingly, all Airtel customers on 3G network were duly notified and requested to upgrade their handsets or SIMs to continue enjoying best-in-class smartphone experience, the Airtel CTO said adding all 3G customers who had not yet upgraded their handsets or SIMs would, however, continue to get access to high quality voice services as before.