Indian cellco Vodafone Idea (Vi) has completed the refarming of its 3G spectrum to its 4G network in eleven cities in Gujarat and has deployed an additional 5MHz of 2100MHz band frequencies in the circle, the operator conformed in a statement yesterday (12 January). Alongside an increase in data transfer rates, the additional spectrum has allowed Vi to widen the coverage of its 4G network, improve network quality and strengthen its traffic carriage capacity in Gujarat. The eleven cities affected by the development are: Ahmedabad, Anand, Bhavnagar, Gandhidham, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara and Vapi. Vi’s 3G customers have been offered a free upgrade to a 4G SIM to reduce the number of customers that might be negatively impacted by the spectrum refarming.
Commenting on the works, regional Operations Director Rajendra Chourasia was quoted as saying: The network augmentation initiative was our endeavour to offer our customers an enhanced 4G experience to complement the data demand. Supplementing the existing 4G infrastructure with the expansion on 2100MHz layer has brought about enhanced data speeds, besides a better indoor network experience for Vi customers in Gujarat. We have completed the 3G to 4G refarming exercise in eleven top cities in the state so far. Efforts are on to cover the rest of the state at an early date.’
The development follows on the heels of a similar spectrum refarming effort in Bengaluru in which saw the cellco migrate its 3G airwaves to 4G across 3,200 sites in the city in December last year, whilst also deploying an extra 5MHz of 2100MHz frequencies. Meanwhile, Vi announced earlier this month that it had also begun work refarming its 3G spectrum for 4G services at all of its sites in the Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), whilst also deploying an additional 5MHz of 2100MHz band airwaves across the territory.