Airtel signal being jammed by Reliance GSM ?

With new GSM providers on the block, are Airtel signals being jammed ...?

When Airtel was launched in Kerala exactly 7 years back, they made a hype about them being the only GSM player operating in 1800Mhz.

Other GSM providers at that time like Escotel, BPL Mobile operated on ~900Mhz frequencies and Airtel made a buzz about the ground braking 1800 Mhz frequency band and they even boasted in front of the media that their band enables 'better reception'. Ironically, that's one of the main drawbacks of Airtel network in Kerala today.

During college days when I was studying telecommunication, I learned that there could be only 4 GSM providers at any given location due to the technical limitations of the GSM implementation at that time. (Way back in 1996).

Today, when I do a network search on my mobile, I see the biggest ever number of providers operating in one single location! (See below)

I took an Airtel connection almost 9 months back. The network quality was 'ok' for first three or four months, and then it started giving me trouble, especially with signal strength indoors. I initially doubted that it could be my cellphone, and I changed it twice, and still the problem persists. It was almost at this time, new GSM players came into picture in the air space of Kerala. The latest GSM players are TATA Indicom, Reliance GSM and Aircel.

I am not aware of the very latest GSM version's specs, but I believe that the changes have brought in some issues together with good things.

My phone has now trouble sticking onto Airtel signals, as I found out yesterday that my phone was entertaining Reliance GSM signals, may be just for a change! This happened when I gave a network search and selected Reliance, it just got in.

Verdict: Airtel sucks. Or at least Airtel network in Kerala sucks. By the way I am happy that I am posting this blog through Airtel GPRS.