Uninor, the subsidiary of Telenor, is planning narrow-band LTE trials in India.
Speaking at an event organized by Ericsson, Pankaj Sharma, head of regulatory at Uninor, said the company is planning narrow-band LTE trials due to shortage of spectrum.
Uninor can launch limited 4G on FD LTE technology using the spectrum acquired early this year.
In February 2014, Uninor acquired additional telecom spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in 4 of its 6 existing circles – UP East, UP West, Bihar and Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh – and in the new circle of Assam for INR 8,447 million.
Uninor aims at enhancing its voice and data capacity by approximately 20 percent to 25 percent in the four existing circles of UP East, UP West, Bihar and Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
Uninor revenues in the first half of 2014 have increased more than 40 percent. Close to 20 percent of the company’s subscribers is active Internet users, Uninor said in a statement in October.
Telenor’s Indian arm has participated in two separate auctions to acquire spectrum in the range of 5 Mhz to 7.2 MHz in seven circles. Uninor has more than 1,500 stores and 365,000 points of sale. At present, Uninor has the second largest distribution network in its operating circles. The company will also launch services in Assam early next year.
Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Videocon have limited spectrum to launch 4G on FD-LTE technology.
Meanwhile, addressing a seminar on Broadband for All, organized by Ericsson and telecom industry body COAI, TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar said if there is a demand for broadband supply for spectrum will happen.
Ericsson India head of strategy and marketing Ajay Gupta said mobility will be the key — and not fixed line– for the growth of broadband in India.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com