Bharti Airtel To Shut Down 3G Network Across India By March 2020

Indian largest telecom services provider Bharti Airtel is looking to cease operating its 3G network across the country by March 2020. The company said it was going to move its concentration into 4G services. The process has already begun as Airtel wound down its 3G network in the service area of Kolkata last month. 

Why does Bharti Airtel stop providing 3G services?

As reported, the campaign did perform well when being tested in Kolkata, leading to its execution across India. Although it doesn’t promise many cost-saving potentials to switch off 3G, the company absolutely attains some benefits from that. 

First, the spectrum band including 900 MHz and 2,100 MHz could be reformed to strengthen 4G network. According to the company, the same equipment used for the operation of 3G will then support the extension of 4G services. Currently, Airtel is utilizing L900 technology powering the 900MHz band to enhance its 4G technology. With this move, the company is expected to increase indoor coverage and augment capacities of 4G network. 

Statistics show that Airtel has 120 million data customers in total, in which, 95 million customers are using 4G. Each month, an average subscriber of Bharti Airtel consumes 11GB of data usage. That implies the company’s intention of boosting the 4G user base, while serving current customers with better performance. 

Bharti Airtel’s next move

By September this year, Airtel plans to close down its 3G network in six to seven service areas. Following that, the company’s provision for 3G network in the entire country will switch off by March 2020.

This year, Bharti Airtel experienced the first loss in the past 14 years, recording a deficit of Rp 2,866 crore in the June quarter. Last year, it received the net profits of Rp 97 crore. However, the revenues of the company still saw an increase when growing from Rp 19,799 crore to Rp 20,738 crore within a year period, equivalent to 4.7%.

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