Vodafone Idea Limited today announced that it will deploying an additional 5 MHz of 2100 MHz band spectrum in Delhi-NCR to substantially increase the GIGAnet 4G network capacity in Delhi-NCR. Vi customers post the exercise will get to enjoy higher download and upload speeds in Delhi apart from better Indoor coverage.
The company stated that it been working on refarming the 3G spectrum to 4G across all sites in Delhi-NCR which includes the deployment of an additional 2100 MHz band spectrum for the 4G spectrum. The announcement comes merely 10 days before Vi switches off the 3G network in Delhi. The company recently urged its customers in Delhi to get their 3G SIMs upgraded to 4G SIMs prior to 15th January 2021 to ensure a seamless experience. Vi’s 3G customers in Delhi can walk into Vi Stores and upgrade to GIGAnet 4G free of cost without any documents.
Post the completion of the exercise, the existing 4G infrastructure in Delhi-NCR will be strengthened with migration of 3G spectrum to 4G.
The company currently holds liberalized spectrum holdings in 5 MHz of 2100 MHz, 10 MHz of 900 MHz, 10.6 MHz of 1800 MHz, and 20 MHz of 2500 MHz band in Delhi. Separately, it also has 8 MHz of non-liberalized spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in Delhi.
“The past year has brought about massive changes in consumer behaviors. While the data demand has grown manifold, telecom network has become the mandatory layer to exist in a digital society. This has drawn focus on the criticality of 24×7 high speed mobile network connectivity across both- commercial as well as residential areas. We have over 2400 ma-MIMO installations in Delhi & NCR which is by far the highest by any operator in the region. Vodafone Idea has also deployed 2100+ small cells in Delhi & NCR for improving experience in congested areas within the city such as Govindpuri, Gandhi Nagar, Lakshmi Nagar etc. All these network augmentation initiatives have been undertaken to offer our customers an enhanced 4G data experience and to complement their data demand.”
Arvinder Singh Sachdev, Operations Director- Delhi & NCR, Punjab, Haryana, HP, J&K, Ladakh, Vodafone Idea
Vi will however continue to offer 2G services in Delhi-NCR. The spectrum refarming exercise we believe started as earlier as September 2020 when the company informed Vi customers in Delhi about the network turning into a 4G only network.
