Airtel 4G LTE - India's First Fourth Generation Mobile Service

Airtel 4G LTE - India's First Fourth Generation Mobile Service

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced the launch of the country’s first ever fourth generation (4G) mobile services in Kolkata. Airtel will shortly roll them out in the other three circles of Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai). "We will launch the 4G LTE service in Bangalore this month, followed by Pune and Chandigarh," Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said.

The company said high-speed wireless broadband "has the potential to transform India" and to provide a platform for "building the country's digital economy." 4G is expected to be five times quicker than 3G services. It would offer services such as high-definition mobile TV and video conferencing. Bharti and its rivals paid a total Rs 38,543 crore ($7.5 billion) to buy fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband spectrum in a 2010 auction, which saw bids at much higher prices than initially expected. Bharti managed to win 4G spectrum in just four of India's 22 telecoms zones in the auction, paying Rs 3,314 crore for spectrum in the Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab zones. The company was allocated 20 Mhz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 Ghz frequency band which is considered suitable for transmitting signals for operating 4G services.

The network for rolling out Airtel's 4G LTE services in the city had been built by Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE. Airtel is the first mobile operator to launch 4G services in the country. Bharti Airtel has already awarded the contract for building and operating its 4G network in Maharashtra to Nokia Siemens Networks. Currently, Airtel’s 4G pricing in Kolkata starts at Rs 999 with a usage of 6GB. Wi-fi devices (indoor CPE) are priced at Rs 7,750 while 4G multi mode dongles are priced at Rs 7,999. To know more about Airtel 4G click Here