Bharti Airtel (Airtel) on Monday said it has started re-farming (or reallocating) its existing mid-band spectrum to accommodate the growing traffic demand on its 5G network.

With more customers moving to the 5G network, Airtel is re-farming its mid-band spectrum to expand 5G services on its 1800, 2100, 2300 MHz bands across the country so that customers can get enhanced browsing speeds, in addition to improved indoor coverage, it said in a statement.

“As more customers pivot to our 5G services, we have re-farmed our mid-band spectrum which was being used for 4G services. With this we are also ready to launch stand-alone technology. This will mean that the Airtel network will be the first network in India to run on both stand-alone and non-standalone modes allowing us to deliver the best experience in the market.” Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer, Airtel, said.

The company said its pilot on the standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) switch has been conducted in Rewari, Chennai and Bhubaneswar and the results have been encouraging.

This capability on the 5G network will enable Airtel to introduce new innovative applications, services and solutions through open APIs, differentiated connectivity and service-based architecture, it added.