Posts Tagged ‘Maharashtra’

Airtel 4G Launch March 20

Bharti AirTel, India’s largest mobile operator, is set to win the race to roll out the country’s first 4G mobile telecom network with a new service said to be launching in Kolkata on March 20.

The country’s largest private telecom company had earlier appointed Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) for building and operating its 4G network in the Maharashtra circle using TD-LTE, one of the 4G technology. However, it was not known immediately who would be the vendor for the Kolkata circle.

Sources close to the operator, which has more than 175 million subscribers, claim that CEO Sanjay Kapoor has stated that it will introduce the service in a little over a week. Initially, it is said that Airtel’s 4G service will be available in Kolkata only, before later being expanded nationwide, according to  Economic Times.

The company had won spectrum for high-speed wireless broadband service (Broadband Wireless Access spectrum) in four telecom circles namely Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka and paid Rs 3,314.36 crore in 2010.

Rival Reliance was another successful bidder, though it has been more muted on its 4G plans, which are expected to see a mid-2012 launch. The firm was said to have trialed services from Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei last year, but it remains to be seen if Airtel’s rumored rollout will hasten Reliance’s own 4G launch.

Telecom company Bharti Airtel is learnt to have identified vendors for rolling out its broadband wireless services in four circles it bagged in a government auction last year.

Bharti is likely to adopt a strategy to split its broadband wireless access (BWA) circles among different vendors to optimise costs and leverage relationships with existing equipment suppliers.

It used a similar strategy while awarding third generation (3G) contracts that were divided between three vendors. ET has learnt that that telco may offer the Kolkata circle to Chinese gear maker ZTE while its competitor Huawei may get the Karnataka circle. The European vendors Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks, that have had a long-term relationship with the telco, are likely to get the Punjab and Maharashtra circles respectively.

LTE is a technology platform that allows very high-speed access to data and transfer of huge amounts of data via dongles and compatible mobile phones. Bharti Airtel paid Rs 3,314.36 crore for getting airwaves that supported LTE services in four circles – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata – in a government auction held last year.

Airtel selects ZTE for 4G

India’s Bharti Airtel has turned to ZTE, for the rollout of 4G network in the country, according to a report. An executive familiar with the matter told that Airtel has selected ZTE to introduce the new network in Kolkata, and it could eventually expand the deal to other circles in India.
Airtel spent $657 million for wireless spectrum in Maharashtra, Kolkata, Karnataka and Punjab in India’s 2010 auctions. The value for Airtel’s four-circle 4G network deal is expected be climb over $300 million.

The executive told the Economic Times: “If ZTE successfully implements Bharti’s 4G network rollout in Kolkata, it may be the lead contender for supplying LTE gear for the remaining three circles as well, although it is likely to face stiff competition from Chinese rival company, Huawei, for the Karnataka network deal.”

A ZTE official confirmed that it has been asked to commission around 850 sites in the first phase of the Kolkata rollout: “There has been no discussion yet on execution of the other three circles. But we are hopeful of landing those equipment contracts as well.”

Tata Docomo launches 3G

Tata Docomo has became the first private telecom player to launch the third-generation (3G) service

Tata Tele paid Rs.5,864 crore for the airwaves in nine circles spanning Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh-Chattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (West).

Tata DoCoMo has named its 3G services as 3G Life and also set up a special website for it – www.3glife.com. The Tata DoCoMo HSPA+ 3G Network that has been set up with the assistance of NTT DoCoMo. This network supports high-speed Internet access with speeds of up to 21.1 Mbps. Also, the support for high-definition voice (HD Voice) for a superior voice experience on calls exists

Tata DOCOMO’s 3G Service can be currently enjoyed  in the following 20 cities: Rajkot, Bharuch, Ambala, Karnal, Panipat, Thanesar, Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bhopal, Udaipur, Kota, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee, Modinagar, Shridi and Bangalore

Tata DOCOMO has already invested $500 million on making 3G services a grand hit. Executive President of the Mobility Business Division of Tata Teleservices Limited, Deepak Gulati informed that at the initial stage, 3G users can watch as many as 50 TV channels on their 3G enabled handsets and the company is optimistic about taking the number to 90 within few days.

Vodafone 3G India

Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland-headquartered Nokia Siemens Networks will roll out 3G networks for Vodafone Essar , one of the largest service providers in India. Vodafone gave a three-year contract estimated at $500 million

Vodafone Essar won 3G radio airwaves in an auction earlier this year in nine of India’s 22 telecoms zones. The company said it would provide services including video telephony, mobile broadband, and mobile TV on the third-generation network.

Nokia Siemens Networks will implement and manage Vodafone’s 3G networks in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (East), rest of West Bengal and Haryana while Ericsson will cover the high-density metros of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

As per the agreement, Ericsson will supply RAN system, network rollout services, tuning, spare parts and training services, along with the 3G common core platform and transmission to Vodafone in the coming months.

The radio access network will include multi-standard radio base station RBS 6000 and mobile soft-switching technology.

Tata Docomo to 3G services in India on eve of Diwali (November 5th 2010).

There has been reports that Tata Docomo will be launching  3G services in India on eve of Diwali (November 5th 2010). With this Tata Docomo will become the 1st private player to launch 3G commercially.

Tata Docomo has won 3G spectrum in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It is expected that 3G will be launched simultaneously in all these 9 circles.

Tata Docomo has already begun to advertise its 3G network features on various TV channels. For 3G fans its the right time to look for 3G compatible handsets.

TATA DOCOMO is a Tata Teleservices Limited’s (TTSL) cellular service provider on the GSM platform-arising out of the Tata Group’s strategic joint venture with Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo in November 2008.

It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone with presence in 19 circles including Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra & Goa, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, and West Bengal. It has become very popular with its one second pulse especially in semi-urban and rural areas.

NTT DOCOMO has played a major role in the evolution of mobile telecommunications through its development of cutting-edge technologies and services. Over the years, technologists at DOCOMO have defined industry benchmarks like 3G technology, as also products and services like the i-modeTM, mobile payment and a plethora of lifestyle-enhancing applications. Today, while most of the rest of the industry is only beginning to talk of LTE technology and its possible applications, DOCOMO has already started conducting LTE trials in physical geographies, not just inside laboratories!