Airtel's 4G service to be launched in Bangalore in 30 days

Business

oi-Sneha

By Sneha B K

Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, 11:51 [IST]

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it will be ready to launch 4G service in Bangalore in the next 30 days.

"We will be ready for launching it (4G service) in Bangalore in 30 days time. We have selected Huawei (as network equipment vendor) for Bangalore," Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor told reporters during a conference call.

The company today announced launch of fourth generation (4G) telecom service using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata. It has selected Chinese telecom equipment company ZTE for providing technology and equipments for the service.

The company has not got approval to provide voice and sms service to users on 4G network, Kapoor said.

Airtel has selected Nokia Siemens Network for its launch in Maharashtra and is yet to finalise telecom equipment vendor for Punjab circle. Airtel has selected Pune and Chandigarh to start 4G service in Maharashtra and Punjab respectively.

The company expects that consumer will get 10 times higher broadband speed compared to the speed that people get on 3G network.

"No one can tell exact speed that can be delivered on a wireless network because various factors govern it. However, we have seen data speed of around 1.2 to 2 mbps on 3G network. The 4G data speed should be 10 times higher," Kapoor said.

Bharti Airtel's President for Consumer Business K Srinivas said the network has potential to provide download speed of 100 megabits per second and the present speed can be upgraded based on the demand from market.

The company has announced 2 different USB dongles for accessing 4G service priced at Rs 7,750 and Rs 7,999 and three data plans ranging between Rs 999 and Rs 1,999.

The lesser priced device is meant for indoor access of the service while the higher priced dongle is for using broadband on the move.

PTI