Bharti Airtel will expand 5G network, there will be no new investment in 4G
Bharti Airtel, one of the big telecom companies, has prepared to increase the coverage of 5G network. The company has planned to increase the coverage to meet the increasing demand for data. Along with this, Bharti Airtel has decided not to make new investment in 4G network.
The company’s managing director, Gopal Vittal, said, “The expansion of 5G coverage is going on as per plan. At the end of the last quarter, we had a 5G base of 12 crore subscribers. The share of 5G smartphones in total smartphone shipments has increased to more than 80 percent. We are benefiting from this.” He said that Bharti Airtel’s capital expenditure has decreased in the current financial year. In the last quarter, the company has installed about 5,200 towers and about 16,300 mobile broadband stations to expand its network and improve customer experience.
Recently Bharti Enterprises had said that it is ready to start satellite telecom service. The approval of the central government is awaited for this service. Billionaire Elon Musk’s company Starlink has also sought permission from the government to launch satellite internet service. Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman, Rajan Bharti Mittal had said, “We are waiting for spectrum allocation. Our two stations are ready in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. We will launch this service after getting permission.” He had said that Bharti Enterprises has launched 635 satellites and the company is providing services in other countries. When asked about the controversy going on for the last few months regarding the allocation of spectrum through administrative process or auction, Mittal reiterated Bharti Airtel’s stand. He said that satellite companies should pay license fees and acquire spectrum through auction. Reliance Jio has also favored paying license fees for this spectrum and purchasing spectrum for telecom services. Market analysts say that auctioning this spectrum will require more investment and this may scare away international telecom companies.
