India's Vodafone Idea has announced it has doubled 4G download speeds in the Mumbai metro area as part of a major network modernization program in the city.
The operator is deploying new technologies in the metro area including Massive MIMO, small cells and more TD-LTE cell sites, and has so far deployed more than 5,000 such sites across several regions.
As part of the network upgrade, Vodafone Idea has also installed over 1,900 pieces of dedicated indoor coverage equipment at high rises and commercial buildings.
Vodafone Idea's capacity and coverage in Mumbai has also benefited from 4G spectrum refarming conducted as part of the network consolidation between the former Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which combined to become Vodafone Idea last year in a $23 billion merger.
“I am happy to announce that ‘Mumbai just got two times faster’ which means that our customers will now experience two times the download speeds on the 4G network,” Vodafone Idea business head Sunil Tolani said.
This is based on statistics from Valu Connex Telecom Services indicating that average download speeds in Mumbai have improved by 2.16 times compared to prior to the modernization program.
“We will be utilizing multiple [advertising] media like OOH [out-of home], radio and digital to reach out to our audience and hope they will enjoy the benefits of our focused network initiatives in Mumbai,” Tolani concluded.