Vodafone registered nearly one year of traffic growth in first week of lockdown

As India moves towards the second phase of nation-wide lockdown, the increased demand for internet seems to have stabilized after the sudden surge—over 45%—during the first week beginning 25 March 2020, when the whole country started working from home and education went nearly 100% online. According to industry sources, the data traffic of the three private-sector players jumped from 250 petabytes per day in December 2019 to nearly 365 petabytes per day end of March 2020. This has kept the telcos and their technology heads on their toes and Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) CTO Vishant Vora is no exception. In an email interview with Shubhendu Parth, he shared details of the initiatives taken by VIL in ensuring uninterrupted voice and data services, and how its investments in cutting-edge technologies helped in meeting the surge in demand. 

V&D: What is your estimation of the surge in demand for data across India during the lockdown? Are we moving closer to the full capacity utilization of mobile networks in the country?

Vishant Vora: As lockdown came into effect, people were suddenly isolated and they started spending more time on their smartphones. Whether it is to buy medicines or groceries, answer work emails, consume news and entertainment or even stay in touch with loved ones via various social media apps, the smartphone has become our primary link with the outside world. We witnessed a sharp spike in data usage since the COVID-19 outbreak in India. After the initial steep rise, we are seeing data demand stabilizing a little. The telecom industry is working closely with the government and other stakeholders to ensure seamless connectivity and access to the internet, especially for delivering critical services.

We have experienced nearly one year of traffic growth within the first week of lockdown. The world’s largest network integration project undertaken by VIL over the last year gives us more capacity headroom, as do some of our latest technology deployments that make the utilization of the spectrum far more efficient. Our 12,000+ ma-MIMOs (multiple-input and multiple-output) that are deployed across key markets are substantially helping in managing the traffic spike. We are deploying capacities across using all means, including the addition of cell on wheels (COW) sites wherever appropriate.

V&D: Experts believe that none of the telcos in India is equipped to handle this sudden rise in data consumption across the country. How is VIL managing the spike in load?

Vishant Vora: Vodafone Idea’s pan India telecom network reaches over 1.1 billion Indians. Our engineers have been working tirelessly over the last few weeks to support millions of customers to stay safe at home by ensuring Vodafone Idea’s 4G+ network availability.

We have set up virtual war rooms where key team members are participating through audio calls and VCs. Senior team members from operations, circles, Super Network Operations Centre (SNOC) and partners are continuously on the call with field staff to ensure uptime and operational continuity. We are continuously monitoring the traffic pattern and are confident of handling the growing demand for voice and data services during the lockdown period.

We have also requested the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to clear our pending applications for spectrum allocation. We are hopeful that the DoT would expedite our spectrum liberalization requests and regularize our backhaul spectrum.

V&D: COAI has suggested allocation of additional spectrum for both “access and backhaul microwave” for the short term to tide over the situation. How do you look at it from the VIL perspective?

Vishant Vora: As mentioned earlier, in the initial phase the telecom companies saw a sharp spike in demand, particularly for mobile internet. Over the last few days, the industry worked with the DoT and other stakeholders to assess and monitor the rising demand. We are now seeing the traffic and demand flattening.

At VIL, our primary aim was to provide continued connectivity to our individual and enterprise customers. We worked with our partners in the ecosystem to ensure that the consumers' demand is met without disruption, especially for accessing internet through mobile for critical services. A comprehensive pandemic response plan with requisite risk mitigation protocols has been activated while ensuring continuity of mission-critical processes for keeping our networks working as telecom is an essential service.

Besides, requesting DoT to clear our pending applications for spectrum allocation, we are also adding more soft capacities in our network to better the experience for our customers.

V&D: Will the availability of E band spectrum for backhaul help improve the network capacity to ensure QoS during this national emergency?

Vishant Vora: Yes, it will surely help to increase backhaul capacity significantly. This band is also considered as an alternative to fiber. In this lockdown situation, wireless backhaul can be deployed faster as fiber execution will not be possible in this scenario.

V&D: The lockdown has also lead to a sudden spurt in mobile apps and platform usage. Is Vodafone working with such platform and app firms to ensure better collaboration and experience?

Vishant Vora: Smartphones have become the primary medium of entertainment for Indians during this lockdown phase. We have also seen the usages of the mobile app increasing on our own platforms, Vodafone Play and Idea Movies and TV App.

Globally, all the leading OTT players and online entertainment platforms have responded by switching to SD viewing experience. India has also followed the same pattern. VIL is actively collaborating with our partners to ensure customers get better brand experience and to maintain reliability, and high quality of network experience.

V&D: According to a company release, Vodafone India is enhancing its 4G+ network speed and connectivity through ma-MIMO deployments across Mumbai. Please share details of the initiatives taken in the rest of India.

Vishant Vora: Our investment in ma-MIMO technology to set up a 4G+ network is helping us meet the growing data demand during this crisis. We have installed over 12,000 ma-MIMOs across India and more than 3,500 ma-MIMOs are deployed in Mumbai and Delhi, the highest by any operator in the region.  Our deployment of COW sites for additional capacity has led to enhanced throughput and better spectrum efficiency. Third-party reports indicate better speeds for VIL customers in Mumbai and Delhi, even during the lockdown period.