Now, Airtel users can stay connected with seamless network in metro tunnel

BSNL is also working to offer in-tunnel connectivity and 2G, 3G service will begin before Durga Puja

Leading telecom operator Airtel on Tuesday commenced seamless connectivity in the metro railway tunnel in the city for their 2G, 3G and 4G services.

This means an Airtel subscriber can now stay connected with voice or high speed data along the entire metro route, even in the tunnel between the stations.

Earlier, network availability was restricted to the metro stations.

"We have started connectivity in the metro tunnel also in 2G, 3G and 4G services and we are the first company to do so," Bharti Airtel CEO (West Bengal and Odhisa) Vir Inder Nath told PTI.

Reliance Jio is already offering connectivity in the metro tunnel but only in 4G network.

BSNL (Calcutta Telephones) is also working to offer in-tunnel connectivity and it is expected that the services in 2G and 3G service will begin before Durga Puja, to be held in September.

The connectivity in the metro tunnel is possible due to leaky fibre optic cable infrastructure of Railtel and all the operators are banking on it to offer seamless connectivity to their subscribers.

Nath said Airtel is ramping up 'carrier aggregators' across the city to offer deeper and stronger 4G network.

"We had started 4G with 2300Mhz but now we have also launched 1800Mhz. The latter allows depeer coverage while 2300 Mhz offers better speed. With the combination the speed could even go up to 100Mbps," he claimed.

So far Airtel has been able to cover 50 per cent of the 3500 BTS and will complete the coverage gradually, Nath added.