The telecom industry is witnessing a major ongoing debacle with regards to the Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) among the major operators but that hasn’t stopped Airtel to keep improving its services. The operator has been trying to improve its existing 4G LTE network across the country and in its latest move, has taken a drastic step to strengthen its offering by phasing out its 3G service in the Haryana circle.
In an official statement, Airtel has announced that it has discontinued its 3G services in the Haryana circle. The discontinuation of the 3G service was done in favour of improving the 4G LTE services in the state of Haryana. Airtel says the 2100MHz spectrum that was used for the 3G services will now be dedicated for the 4G services in the state, thereby improving the connectivity for 4G subscribers.
“The re-farming of 3G spectrum (2100 Mhz) to 4G (LTE 2100) shall further boost the network capacity and wider availability of Airtel 4G services across the state. Airtel has deployed the 2100 MHz band spectrum to further strengthen its 4G network in the state. With this, Airtel now offers high-speed 4G on a solid tri-band spectrum bank – 2300 Mhz (TD LTE), 2100 Mhz (LTE 2100), and 1800 Mhz (FD LTE) to deliver best-in-class mobile broadband experience to customers,” says Airtel.
For those subscribers who are still using 3G services, Airtel suggests they should upgrade to the 4G services from the operator. Airtel 3G customers need to upgrade to the 4G SIM cards as well as purchase a new smartphone that supports 4G networks.
However, existing 3G subscribers won’t face disruption in service. Airtel says it will continue to offer voice service to subscribers with 3G SIM and handsets. Airtel will continue to provide 2G services in Haryana to serve the connectivity needs of customers on feature phones.
Previously, Airtel shut down its 3G network in Kolkata in favour of strengthening its 4G services. Airtel plans to phase out the 3G network from all circles gradually in favour of its faster 4G service over the course of time. And subscribers will have to upgrade to a 4G handset and get a 4G SIM card.