In an effort to provide better connectivity and ease network congestion for its cellular subscribers even at peak hours, Bharti on Thursday launched India's first dual band network in Delhi to leverage the benefits of 1800 MHz and 900 MHz frequency bands.
"The network, which has been designed by Ericsson, will ensure better connectivity and minimal network congestion even at peak hours, especially at high call traffic areas or hotspots. The dual band solution will also lead to further optimisation in spectrum usage," Sanjay Nandrajog, CEO of Bharti Cellular (North Central region), said in New Delhi.
AirTel currently has a subscriber base of 1.1 million in Delhi and has a spectrum allocation of 10 MHz (8 MHz in 900 MHz band and 2 MHz in 1800 MHz band).
It announced the deployment of 70 dual band cell sites in the "hotspots" of Delhi in the first phase, while the second phase will see deployment of 40 more dual band cell sites and two more switching units.
According to a company official, 85 per cent of subscribers have handsets which support the dual band network, while the balance 15 per cent subscribers, who do not, would be taken on the 900 Mhz band.
The company has also planned an investment of Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.50 billion) in the current financial year on its mobile infrastructure.
It had earlier announced an investment of Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) for the year for its operations in Delhi.
