Airtel plans to ramp up 4G presence to touch at least 100 cities by the year-end

Category > OTHERS || Published on : Monday, August 3, 2015 || Views: 1313 || Airtel plans to ramp up 4G presence to touch at least 100 cities by the year-end


Bharti Airtel, India's biggest cellphone carrier, plans to ramp up its 4G presence to touch at least 100 cities by the year-end while continuing to offer the service at 3G prices for the foreseeable future to make the most of its first mover advantage ahead of launches by serious rivals.

Airtel chief information officer Harmeen Mehta told ET exclusively that the company was leaving no stone unturned at the back end or the front end to woo customers to Airtel's 4G network. "We are offering 4G services at 3G prices and we will continue doing so."

With voice revenue growth slowing, the fight among mobile phone operators for a larger share of the surging data revenue pie is expected to intensify in the future. While Airtel, which holds 4G spectrum in 14 circles, is looking to expand its 4G services from the roughly 45-odd cities and towns it is present in, top rivals Vodafone and Idea plan to start offering similar services from the year end or early next year.

New entrant Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm is expected to launch its 4G services by year end, which, many believe, forced the incumbents to jump onto the 4G bandwagon much sooner than they would have liked.

Read Full Story @ ET