Vodafone to launch 4G services in India by December this year
After Airtel launching its 4G services in India, now it’s Vodafone who has announced to roll out its 4G service by the end of this year. Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Kochi will be the first set of cities to get Vodafone 4G in the first wave of the roll-out.
Vodafone India had successfully acquired additional 4G (LTE) spectrums in 5 circles viz. Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Kerala and Karnataka in February 2014 auctions. These circles together contribute close to 50% of the total data revenues for Vodafone India. It had already started 4G trials in select circles last month, in preparation for the wider roll out.
Vodafone says that it currently has nearly 25 million 4G subscribers across 18 countries. 4G also accounts for 35 percent of data traffic in European markets.
The telco said it will also roll out its own 3G networks in 7 circles – Assam, North East, UP West, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha, to expand its overall 3G footprint to 16 circles across the country.
“Testing of 4G services has commenced successfully. Vodafone India has partnered with leading global technology infrastructure service providers for the network roll-out. With some of the latest technological developments on the anvil; Vodafone is building robust and resilient network architecture with a strong backhaul to support the volumes and need for speed from customers” the company said.
Vodafone India will face a huge competition from Airtel who already launched its 4G services in selected circles, and Reliance Jio Infocomm who is expected to launch its 4G services by December as well.
