Airtel is deploying Massive MIMO to improve mobile experience at IPL venues

12th April 2018
Airtel is deploying Massive MIMO to improve mobile experience at IPL venues

Prelude to launching 5G services in 2019-20
New Delhi, April 12 2018: Leading Indian mobile service provider, Airtel,  is deploying Massive MIMO technology at venues of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL)  cricket matches to provides spectators with super fast data speeds on 4G networks -- and simultaneously hone the technology in time for the expected  upgrade next year to 5G services.
Massive MIMO  is inherently capable of expanding existing network capacity by  a factor of five to seven times using the same spectrum.  This is particularly useful at  crowded events like IPL, which see  a very large number of concurrent users within a short period, over network sites at the venue.
Airtel  has started to deploy the Massive MIMO solution in IPL match venues in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mohali, Indore, Jaipur, Bangalore and Chennai, beginning with the opening match on April 7 in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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WHAT IS MASSIVE MIMO?
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Says Shyam Mardikar, CTO-Mobile, Bharti Airtel: “As part of our endeavour to offer a seamless high speed 4G experience to our customers, we are deploying this advanced Pre-5G solution to enable a high speed and high capacity in-stadia network experience at IPL match venues. We believe this will enhance the digital experience for our customers and enable them to share, post and stream content seamlessly even in locations with massive crowds.”
Airtel  claims the distinction of being the first mobile operator in India to commercially deploy Massive MIMO.
Outside the stadia, Airtel subscribers  can also access all live telecasts of IPL matches 2018 for  free via Hotstar by downloading the new version of the Airtel TV app.