25 percent of network integration complete in five months: Vodafone Idea

India's largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea announced the successful consolidation of nearly 25 percent of its pan-India radio network integration within a short span of just five months of the merger.

"Customers of both Vodafone and Idea Cellular are able to enjoy a unified network experience on 2G, 3G & 4G, in the service areas of West Bengal, Haryana, HP, Assam, North East, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana (excl. Hyderabad), J&K and MP & Chhattisgarh," said Vodafone Idea.

"With meticulous pre-merger planning and rigorous post-merger execution, we have ensured that our customers remain confidently connected and enjoy uninterrupted services even as we integrate and optimize our network in a phased manner across circles. We have partnered the best of global vendors and equipment suppliers to deploy new age technologies, with in-built customizations and novel innovations to ensure a rich customer experience while building a robust, future-ready network,"
Vishant Vora, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Idea Ltd. said.

The company has also re-farmed 10 MHz of the 4G spectrum of Vodafone in Mumbai to enable its customers in the metro get better data experience. In other circles, network integration is taking place on a cluster-by-cluster basis and the subscribers of both brands are gradually moving to a much larger and better network.

Key Highlights

● Over the last 5 months, nearly 25% of the radio network has been successfully consolidated.

● Radio network consolidation completed in 8 circles - West Bengal, Haryana, HP, Assam, North East, AP & Telangana (excl. Hyderabad), J&K and MP & Chhattisgarh, resulting in a good improvement in 4G data throughput and coverage.

● 4G coverage extended to over 750 mn population on a pan-India level

● With joint spectrum firing, 4G throughput has shown quick improvement of "1X to 2X" in many of these service areas.

● 4G ICR is now available in over 60K sites across all circles.

● Enhanced the capabilities of more than 4.7K sites through dynamic spectrum re-farming.

● By end of Jan 2019, nearly 45K co-located and low utilization sites have been switched off.