Bharti Airtel Limited, one of India’s top telecommunications providers, has announced a significant upgrade to its network in Kolkata, providing superior voice and data connectivity. This development, made public on 18 September 2024, comes in the wake of Airtel’s successful deployment of additional spectrum, enhancing its capacity to serve the region’s growing demand for seamless connectivity.

Airtel completes spectrum deployment for Kolkata region

Bharti Airtel revealed that the additional 5MHz spectrum acquired in July 2024 has been fully deployed across the Kolkata metropolitan area, including Greater Kolkata, Howrah, and Hooghly. This expansion is set to significantly boost Airtel’s 4G and 5G network, enhancing data speeds and improving indoor coverage, a critical factor for urban and suburban users.

Airtel’s deployment marks a milestone in its commitment to ensuring better service quality, particularly with the rising demand for high-speed data services. With the upgraded spectrum, customers can expect faster browsing speeds, uninterrupted voice connectivity, and wider coverage, even along highways and railway routes.

Enhanced user experience and infrastructure expansion

According to Ayan Sarkar, CEO for Bharti Airtel in West Bengal and Orissa, this spectrum addition highlights Airtel’s unwavering dedication to delivering superior network performance. He emphasised that customers would now experience enhanced call quality and significantly faster data connections across the covered areas. Sarkar further stressed that Airtel remains committed to continued investments in advanced technologies aimed at improving customer service.

Airtel’s upgraded network infrastructure allows for greater reliability and data capacity, crucial for the region’s consumers who rely heavily on seamless connectivity, whether at home or on the move. With 97 MHz of spectrum secured during the most recent Spectrum Auction, Airtel has bolstered its offerings by expanding its sub-GHz spectrum and consolidating fragmented spectrum blocks. This strategic move ensures that Airtel holds one of the most robust mid-band spectrum pools, ideal for supporting 4G and 5G network demands.

Future-proofing Kolkata’s digital connectivity

The ongoing investment in technology comes as Airtel re-farms its mid-band spectrum to support future data demand, particularly as the shift towards 5G continues. In addition to being India’s largest integrated communications provider, Bharti Airtel boasts a substantial global presence, with operations across 17 countries and a customer base exceeding 550 million.

With this latest enhancement, Airtel is positioning itself as a leader in providing fast, reliable, and future-ready connectivity for Kolkata’s growing population of digital users. As more consumers turn to high-speed internet for personal and professional needs, this upgrade signals Airtel’s readiness to meet the region’s increasing demand.

Expert insights: A step towards 5G dominance

The latest spectrum deployment by Bharti Airtel marks an essential step in future-proofing its infrastructure, as the demand for data continues to surge. Experts in the telecommunications sector point to Airtel’s strategic spectrum consolidation as a masterstroke in ensuring that the company stays ahead of the competition, particularly in urban regions like Kolkata, where data consumption is skyrocketing. With 5G on the horizon, this enhanced network capability will be crucial in handling the growing consumer demand for faster speeds and reliable connectivity.

  Ayan Sarkar, Bharti Airtel, Hooghly, Howrah, Kolkata, West Bengal