Bharti Airtel has chalked out its 4G 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.
In the next phase, Airtel will launch LTE services in Pune and Chandigarh. Airtel will focus on both individuals and enterprises. The company has selected Nokia Siemens for Maharashtra, while it is yet to decide the network partner for Chandigarh.
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.