Telecom Lead India: Bharti Airtel will launch TD-LTE
services in Kolkatta in April. With this launch, Airtel will become the first
operator in the country to launch 4G services.
We will launch TD-LTE services in Kolkatta this month
itself,” said Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Bharti Airtel, to Telecom Lead at the sidelines of the GSMA
event in Delhi today.
The company has selected ZTE as its equipment partner for
the Kolkatta TD-LTE launch.
Airtel had won Broadband Wireless Access spectrum in 2010 to
offer high-speed wireless broadband service in four telecom circles —
Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka. The company was allocated 20 Mhz of
BWA spectrum in 2.3 Ghz frequency band, which is capable of offering the
bandwidth required for 4G/LTE services.
Airtel paid Rs 3,314.36 crore for the BWA spectrum.
Earlier this year, Airtel had announced plans to launch LTE
services in Maharashtra. The company also announced partnership with Nokia
Siemens Networks for equipments.
Other major telcos, including Reliance Infotel (formerly Infotel
Broadband Services), Qualcom, Tikona, Aircel and Augere, who won BWA spectrum
in 2010, are yet to announce their LTE plans. Public sector telcos BSNL and
MTNL are also in the league as they were allocated one slot of BWA spectrum in
their respective circles.
TD-LTE
subscribers to reach 5 million by 2013 in Indian telecom market
Recently ABI Research predicted that LTE subscriber adoption
in India will reach 5 million by 2013, mainly driven by the investments by
companies like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, and Augere.
Though at the end of 2011, there were 900 million mobile
subscribers, the market is fragmented, with more than 70 3G licensed circles.
Considerable expectations were placed on 4G WiMAX, which failed to materialize.
ABI Research said WCDMA and TD-LTE subscriber adoption will
eclipse 90 million and 5 million by 2013, respectively.
LTE offers the potential to change the cost equation of
delivering mobile data services through increased spectral efficiency – not
just in dense, urban communities but also rural towns and villages.
Indian
telecom is a few steps near 4G LTE mobile broadband revolution
To give further boost to LTE in India, the Government of
India will conduct 4G LTE mobile broadband auctions in the next 12-18 months. The
initial steps were taken by an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) when they
decided to allocate 700 Mhz spectrum for offering 4G telecom services.
Operators who have missed out on 3G / BWA services will be
keen to watch out this 700 Mhz space. While BWA spectrum winners including
Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Tikona, who received spectrum in 2010, will
be launching TD LTE services during 2012-13, winners of 700 Mhz are likely to
bet on both FD LTE and TD LTE technologies. FD LTE is more prominent in the
global LTE industry.
In fact, some global operators are looking at dual-mode
networks.
With the launch of TD-LTE services in India, Airtel will set
a new benchmark for competitors.
