Airtel 5G is a scam (Rant)

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I dont think it has anything to do with SA or NSA in my case, it's simply a congestion problem and Airtel is not upgrading their infrastructure as per demand. A few months ago it was working perfectly fine for me without any issues. The problem has started to arise now both in Pune and Bangalore for me, I am pretty sure SA has been deployed in both the cities.
Poor internet connectivity on the go and random call drops is a major issue for a lot of people. A lot of friends and colleagues also face the same problem, it's not just me. The reason: A lot of people latching to the same tower, more than it's capacity.

Coming to the most important problem due to this: UPI payments failing. There have been multiple instances where the payment would just fail due to poor internet connectivity. I remember UPI payments being blazing fast when 5G arrived in 2022.
 
A single UE can’t simultaneously be connected to SA and NSA at the same time on the same SIM, but it can support both modes and switch dynamically depending on network conditions. Hope this is understood by all. On Airtel, hopefully they’ve implemented inter-core compatibility through N26 interface.

N26 Interface
  • Defined by 3GPP TS 23.502.
  • Logical interface between the MME (Mobility Management Entity, EPC) and the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function, 5GC).
  • Enables Registration, Authentication, and Mobility continuity when UE moves between EPC and 5GC (EPS - 5GS handover).
  • Without N26, interworking is still possible but requires re-registration (service interruption).
At this point, it is speculation since the inner network architecture is not revealed. But if incidents like the ones described by users here are any indication, they’ve kept 5GC and EPC separate, which can cause mobility issues and also service interruptions even when stationary - the UE decides to switch between NSA and SA based on congestion patterns.

It can be expected to stabilise over time as Airtel will obviously plan on keeping their 4G service alive for another decade, which means N26 must be brought in to retain a superior user experience. Sunsetting the EPC and upgrading the eNB to ng-eNB to work with 5GC may not be done in the near future.
 
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It can be expected to stabilise over time as Airtel will obviously plan on keeping their 4G service alive for another decade, which means N26 must be brought in to retain a superior user experience
What is so superior about the Indian 4G experience which can't even reach +100mbps unless in optimal conditions? And why prolong it?
 
The overall experience depends on how much spectrum the operators have and how much backhaul they have to support their network. For example our top operators Airtel/Jio have 100Mhz of n78 for 5G, Chinese operators have around 200-300Mhz of similar spectrum. Plus it also depends on how much data is offered to customers. Unlimited 5G data is not sustainable for a country like India that too at such reasonable prices as it will hamper the user experience for everyone else.
 
@Lucifer96 I am asking a question, not exactly comparing. And that's because India and China both are having huge population, so I was wondering if they are able such a handle huge population in their 4G/5G network.
 
Maybe a lot of members on this forum might not protest if a telecom operator or multiple of them started installing microcells on buildings; is the reality the same for the wider public? Telecom companies, even if they wish to do so, will face protests from anyone with a mouth just because they'll listen to popular hysteria with zero knowledge of their own. A few comments pointed out lack of spectrum in our country. What needs to be understood is spectrum is reusable, and highly so. Technologies like OFDMA, massive MU-MIMO are supposed to enable the same spectrum to serve large numbers of users. China and Singapore have already proven that, with the same global spectrum allotments, yet with superior speeds. So where then is the bottleneck?

The 1G wireless backhaul given to a BTS that's meant to support, a single locality in India with the same absolute numbers as an entire European rural town.

To improve our experience, right of way needs to be nationalised and new laws need to be enacted that give the government ultimate rights over the placement of wired and wireless telecom equipment. Government needs to privatise this work, without starting a new division of incompetent government workers for it, and share the infrastructure among telecom operators for long term contracts, with dues, penalties, and reassignment when failing to utilise the allotted spaces - same as we do spectrum at present. Government must ensure bureaucracy is kept to a minimum.

Would ordinary citizens allow this move by the government without protesting that the newly installed mobile tower and equipment is causing them cancer?

I can't really support the argument that we need even higher ARPUs to enable a better user experience. ARPU is an important concept but it must be read alongside the net revenue of an operator in a country, especially when the population density and absolute numbers are skewed to the extent seen in India and China. Our telecom operators could use a higher ARPU for financial sustainability in the long term, but to fiberise BTS and supplement them, the Capex and Opex are not the biggest hurdles at present.
 
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