Vodafone Idea confident of handling traffic surge during Covid-19 lockdown

Vodafone Idea said it is confident of handling the growing demand of voice and data services during the lockdown period.

Top OTT players in India including Netflix and Hotstar announced lowering streaming quality to help the ease burden. (REUTERS)

Vodafone Idea on Thursday released a note on what the operator is doing to ensure seamless connectivity to users staying at home following the Covid-19 lockdown.

It said that it is also monitoring the traffic pattern and is confident of handling the load of voice and data services during the lockdown period. The operator also called upon the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to expedite its requests for spectrum liberalization.

"Our 12000+ ma-MIMOs (by far the largest deployment in the country) across key markets are substantially helping in managing the traffic spike. We are deploying capacities across using all means including addition of COW sites wherever appropriate," the operator said in a note.

"We have also requested DOT to clear our pending applications for spectrum allocation. We are hopeful that DoT would expedite our spectrum liberalization requests and regularize our backhaul spectrum" it added.

The government has exempted telecom services from the 21-day lockdown announced earlier this week. The lockdown, however, has also led to a heavy load on the telecommunication networks with millions of people turning to digital tools for work and personal usages. Top OTT players in India including Netflix and Hotstar announced lowering streaming quality to help the ease burden.

Earlier this week, Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal listed out steps taken to sustain the network experience for users amid the lockdown.

"We understand that your network needs would evolve during this difficult time, as you work from home. We have taken several measures to improve your experience - from accelerating our roll outs, upgrading quality of service where possible and advancing our investments to meet your requirements," he said in a message to users.