There is a sharp increase in the data consumption trend in India after the launch of Reliance JIO’s 4G services. Many consumers are opting to buy new smartphones with latest features. The low cost features rich smartphones from Chinese companies adds further temptations to the users’ desire for updating their smartphones.
A new phone launching every day makes the task of choosing a new smartphone a very confusing and difficult process. Consumers want to buy a smartphone with the best camera, fast processing, longer battery life and so on. However, there is one thing that a consumer usually does not consider before buying a smartphone that is the LTE frequency bands supported by it. This is one of the very important aspects that need to be taken into account before buying a new smartphone, especially, if you are a Vodafone, Idea, or BSNL subscriber in India.
Why LTE Frequency Bands Important if My Phone Supports 4G?
4G services, technically also known as LTE (Long-Term Evolution), work on different frequency bands worldwide. In India, currently, the telecom operators are providing 4G services primarily on three LTE bands i.e. Band 3 (1800 MHz), Band 5 (850 MHz), & Band 40 (2300 MHz). Further, most of the smartphones you buy these days support these three bands. However, the scenario is going to change soon when Vodafone, Idea, and BSNL will start providing their 4G services on the fourth band i.e. Band 41 (2500 MHz). Vodafone, Idea, and BSNL do not have sufficient spectrum available in Band 3 (1800 MHz), Band 5 (850 MHz), & Band 40 (2300 MHz) to provide 4G services pan India. They have bought bandwidth in Band 41 (2500 MHz) in the last spectrum auction.
Vodafone and Idea, who are on verge of merging together, have combined bandwidth in Band 41 (2500 MHz) covering entire India, including metro cities. This will enable them to launch pan India 4G high-speed services using this band to compete with Airtel (providing 4G services on Band 3 & 40) and JIO (providing 4G services on Band 3, 5, & 40).
You might have noticed that Idea and Vodafone are already providing 4G services in most of the telecom circles in India without even using Band 41. That is true, but they will soon start using Band 41 along with their existing bands to improve their coverage and capacity over entire India. This will also increase their network data speed significantly. Further, the amount of bandwidth they have in Band 41 is more than that they have in any other band.
BSNL currently has 4G spectrum in Band 41 and has also requested telecom department to allocate spectrum in Band 17 (700 MHz). The company is planning to roll-out 4G services soon on Band 41 and Band 17 (in case they get it).
Conclusion
So, as per the information above, you should now understand that your smartphone should support Band 41 along with Bands 3, 5 & 40. If you want your smartphone to be further futuristic it should also support Band 17. Band 17 is the next band that the telecom operators will look forward to acquiring and provide/improve their 4G services.
Further, you can find the LTE bands supported by a smartphone in the specification section.
You can find the bands supported by a smartphone in the Network Section under the 4G bands. In this case, Lenovo K8 Note supports LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), and 40(2300). It is interesting to note that Lenovo K8 Note does not support Band 17 and Band 41.
This article is also very important if you are planning to buy an imported smartphone in India. Most of the smartphones from the USA do not even support bands 3 & 40 because telecom operators there use different bands (1, 5, 41,etc.) for providing 4G services. So be careful while choosing one.
I hope this article will help you while purchasing a new smartphone. It would be great if you could share this article with your social network. You can use the buttons provided below for sharing the article. You can also comment in the comment section below in case you have any questions or suggestions.
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