Airtel launches India's first 4G services

KOLKATA, INDIA: Telecom major Bharti Airtel Tuesday launched broadband wireless access (BWA) services based on 4G technology here.

With this launch, the firm became the first player to launch 4G services in India.

The high speed service was inaugurated here by union Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal.

A successor to the 2G and 3G families, 4G is expected to be five times quicker than 3G services. It would offer services such as high-definition mobile TV and video conferencing.

Airtel , which had bagged BWA spectrum in four telecom circles - Kolkata, Maharastra, Punjab and Karnataka - for Rs.3,314.36 crore in 2010, selected Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE to manage its services in Kolkata.

Even though, 3G services are yet to gain momentum in the country, the telco is confident about the market prospects. "Today's launch is a major milestone for the country and the company," said Airtel chief Sunil Mittal.

The company is confident that others would follow it and participate in its pioneering effort of making TD-LTE, the defacto 4G standard in India. High speed wireless broadband, he said, has the potential to transform India.

"India will see massive growth in consumption of data and content over mobile devices and proliferation of mobile commerce," said Mittal at Kolkata launch.

4G facilitate download speeds of upto 100 mbps. The telco is also offering Rs 999 post-paid plan for 6GB as an introductory offer.

The company in 2010 had successfully bid for BWA licence spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles.

(With inputs from CyberMedia News)