Summary:
Tejas Networks has formally denied Airtel’s claim that its equipment is “sub-standard” and causing interference in Airtel’s 900 MHz network in Rajasthan. Tejas states that its radios meet all required standards and that the real cause of interference is Airtel’s tower deployment practices and the close spectrum adjacency between Airtel and BSNL.
Tejas Networks has officially refuted Airtel’s allegation that its equipment is “sub-standard” or responsible for network interference on Airtel’s 900 MHz uplink in Rajasthan. In its response, Tejas clarified that its radios deployed in BSNL’s 800 MHz band are fully compliant with all 3GPP, TEC, and BSNL specifications and lab-tested with comfortable margins. Instead, Tejas states that the interference is a result of Airtel’s tower placement strategies and the tight frequency spacing between Airtel’s 900 MHz spectrum and BSNL’s 800 MHz holdings.
In its detailed letter, Arnob Roy—Co-founder and COO of Tejas Networks—emphasized that all radios supplied to BSNL have undergone extensive certification at accredited facilities and adhere strictly to out-of-band emission limits. Roy added that describing Tejas’ equipment as “sub-standard” is baseless, especially coming from a telecom operator of Airtel’s stature. Tejas noted that interference becomes likely when Airtel deploys its sites extremely close to BSNL’s towers, which reduces coupling loss and elevates the noise floor on Airtel’s uplink, regardless of equipment used.
Tejas further explained that BSNL and Airtel operate in tightly adjacent frequency bands that partially overlap, and such environments demand proper filtering, adequate tower separation, and careful network planning. According to Tejas, mutual interference in adjacent bands is a known industry challenge, and operators must use best-practice deployment techniques rather than faulting compliant, standards-certified radios.
