Bharti Airtel has blamed Tejas for its mobile network disruptions in Rajasthan. The telco has alleged that the Tata-owned telco’s sub-standard equipment is to blame for the ongoing fiasco in the northwestern region.
Airtel says that the interference from Tejas has been interfering with its own service and, as a result, has degraded service quality since December 2024. The telco also said that it has sat through many technical meetings, tests, and directives, and Tejas continues not to take steps to rectify.
Tejas Networks has deployed a locally developed 4G stack for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). Airtel has demanded action to stop Tejas’s interference on its 900 MHz network in Rajasthan. The telco has alleged that the equipment of Tejas is to blame for the issue, as BSN’s service operates in the 800 MHz band.
Airtel and Tejas row over interference in Rajasthan
Airtel has blamed Tejas’s radio equipment and filter design are causing service problems in Rajasthan. Tejas’s filter was designed for the 800 MHz band within the 864-894 MHz range. Airtel mentions that in India, the 800 MHz downlink is limited to 869-889 MHz, which it says is culpable.
However, Tejas Networks has maintained that its gear 3GPP standards and adheres to BSNL’s out-of-band emission regulations. It states that the issue in Rajasthan is caused by an overlap of spectrum bands and is working on additional filtering in cooperation with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Airtel, and BSNL.
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Broader concern
The issue comes at a time when the government is urging telcos to use indigenous equipment to promote self-reliance. However, private firms coming into conflict due to the deployment of locally designed infrastructure could be discouraging. To avoid such issues in the future, all the stakeholders must form a dialogue.