rollout strategy. It will launch 4G services in Bangalore in the next 30
days. The country’s first 4G provide has selected Huawei as the network supplier for the Karnataka circle.
Airtel will identify towns based on demands and potential of
internet customers.
In 2G, we were trailing behind global majors. When we
launched 3G, we were 4-5 years behind. We are happy to say that in the case of
4G, we are in line with global players. 18 operators launched LTE globally. We
are amongst the first one to launch TD LTE services,” said Sanjay Kapoor,
CEO India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel.
Bharti Airtel is one of the founding members of
the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) which was launched at the Mobile World
Congress 2011. Other key founding members of this global initiative include
China Mobile and Softbank Mobile.
We believe that broadband has great opportunity in India.
Fixed line is almost absent in India. 4G has an exciting option to offer where
fiber is not present. Customers in Kolkata are enjoying video games,
surveillance, etc. ZTE has built the 4G network capable of offering speeds of
100 Mbps. There is no wireless technology is available to offer this speed.
Speed is the killer application. Given the large youth population, 4G will rock
in India,” Kapoor added.
“Fiber will continue to be part of our services. Airtel has
end-to-end broadband services. It is an exciting day for us. China and India will drive TD LTE broadband growth in the
world,”Kapoor said.
Airtel claims that price of Airtel 4G is comparable with
other leading operators who are offering low speed high speed broadband in
India.
Airtel 4G , besides offering rich content, will allow
superfast access to High Definition (HD) video streaming, multiple chatting,
instant uploading of photos and much more. It will also help in bridging the
digital divide and add to economic growth in rural areas by enhancing the reach
of e-governance, e-health and e-education services.
In 2010, Airtel had successfully bid for BWA
license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding
Mumbai) circles. It is currently working towards rolling out state-of-the-art
networks in circles other than Kolkata.
