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Airtel launches 4G on mobiles at same price as 3G - The Times of India
BANGALORE: Airtel has launched 4G on mobiles, thus becoming the first in India to offer such a service. It has been launched in Bangalore first, and the plan is to take it to other cities soon.
The 4G offering, which promises to enable you to watch high-definition video without buffering and download full-length movies on to your mobiles in about three minutes, will come at the same price as the 3G service.
But for now, the service will only work on iPhone 5S and 5C. That is because those are the only devices available in India that support the 2300 MHz frequency band on which 4G is being offered.
"We expect more devices will soon come enabled for this band. China has just allocated 4G spectrum in the 2300 MHz band to its operators, so there should be a lot more manufacturing of such devices," Srini Gopalan, director of consumer business in Bharti AirtelIndia, said.
In the on-going round of spectrum allocations in India, 4G is also being allocated in the 1800 MHz band. But the actual offerings by operators on this band may take a while.
Airtel had previously launched 4G through dongles and modems in four cities. The company has close to 9.5 million 3G customers in India and with 4G being offered at the same price, there should be a large-scale shift once devices come equipped with the necessary band.
For Rs 1,500, a postpaid customer can upload/download 10 GB of data in 30 days. There are other offerings at lower prices. "4G speeds are 10-15 times more than 3G speeds," Gopalan said.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm is preparing for a big-bang launch of 4G services, but no dates have been announced so far. It's expected to come with live television and video-on-demand on 4G, and a host of other services such as music streaming, video calling and payment services.
With 4G wi-fi, you can tether multiple devices at home to the same network and still get phenomenal speeds in all.
BANGALORE: Airtel has launched 4G on mobiles, thus becoming the first in India to offer such a service. It has been launched in Bangalore first, and the plan is to take it to other cities soon.
The 4G offering, which promises to enable you to watch high-definition video without buffering and download full-length movies on to your mobiles in about three minutes, will come at the same price as the 3G service.
But for now, the service will only work on iPhone 5S and 5C. That is because those are the only devices available in India that support the 2300 MHz frequency band on which 4G is being offered.
"We expect more devices will soon come enabled for this band. China has just allocated 4G spectrum in the 2300 MHz band to its operators, so there should be a lot more manufacturing of such devices," Srini Gopalan, director of consumer business in Bharti AirtelIndia, said.
In the on-going round of spectrum allocations in India, 4G is also being allocated in the 1800 MHz band. But the actual offerings by operators on this band may take a while.
Airtel had previously launched 4G through dongles and modems in four cities. The company has close to 9.5 million 3G customers in India and with 4G being offered at the same price, there should be a large-scale shift once devices come equipped with the necessary band.
For Rs 1,500, a postpaid customer can upload/download 10 GB of data in 30 days. There are other offerings at lower prices. "4G speeds are 10-15 times more than 3G speeds," Gopalan said.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm is preparing for a big-bang launch of 4G services, but no dates have been announced so far. It's expected to come with live television and video-on-demand on 4G, and a host of other services such as music streaming, video calling and payment services.
With 4G wi-fi, you can tether multiple devices at home to the same network and still get phenomenal speeds in all.
