Posts Tagged ‘TD-LTE’

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.

Augere selects TD-LTE technology to offer 4G services to consumers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh under its ZOOSH brand

·         Partnership with Ericsson to provide Augere with end-to-end TD-LTE solution including managed services in 14 cities in these two states

·         World’s second-largest telecom market to enjoy benefits of mobile broadband with TD-LTE

·         LTE-enabled 4G speeds to improve user experience of wireless broadband including web, online gaming, video streaming and social networking even while on the move.

Consumers in India are one step closer to experiencing the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications through TD-LTE technology. Augere, a pioneer of 4G wireless broadband with 4G licenses covering more than 500 million people in emerging markets in South Asia and Africa has selected Ericsson’s (NASDAQ:ERIC) latest-generation radio base station, the RBS6000; state-of-the-art Evolved Packet Core technology and microwave transmission. This will enable Augere to offer broadband services under the ZOOSH brand to residential and business customers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

LTE enhances the end-user experience and enables the rapid transfer of large amounts of data. With increased speed and decreased latency, consumers can enjoy a wide range of applications such as internet surfing, online gaming, social media and video meetings. LTE also has the capacity to meet future demands for new and enhanced mobile internet applications.

To ensure optimal network performance, Ericsson will also be responsible for providing managed services and network operations for three years. Ericsson will plan, design, build, operate, maintain and provide spare-parts management for the 4G network for Augere. The contract includes the supply, installation and commissioning of the network.

Lars Stork, CEO, Augere Wireless Broadband India Private Ltd said, “We are delighted to be one of the first wireless broadband service providers to announce our plans for the launch of 4G services in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. LTE is a new technology that will enable us to offer high speed and quality customer experience through a 4G wireless broadband service. India today offers one of the most exiting growth opportunities globally in wireless broadband services and we believe LTE will provide us with a network to offer a customer experience in line with the core values of our brand ZOOSH. Our global telecommunications experience and strong local partnerships are geared up to deliver Broadband service in underserved markets enabling our customers to get highs peed and reliable access to the Internet. We welcome the selection of Ericsson as our Indian network partner, a global leader in the LTE space. We are confident that this partnership will create the foundation that will support us in providing a fast and reliable customer experience only second to none and be moving us a step closer to our ‘Broadband for All’ vision.”
Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Ericsson in India, says: “Ericsson is proud to partner with Augere for the introduction of 4G-based TD-LTE services in India. Mobility and broadband are among the main elements of Ericsson’s vision of a Networked Society. With LTE and TD-LTE, the mobile broadband experience will reach the next level. It is exciting to see India, one of the world’s largest telecom markets, planning the next steps for mobile broadband.”

The rollout of services will start from early next year, with a soft launch planned for early Q2 2012.

Nokia demonstrates high-speed 4G network

Telecommunications equipment major Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) demonstrated for the first time its Time Division Duplex version of LTE (TD-LTE) technology in India on Tuesday in Bangalore. The technology, running on broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, for which licences were issued recently, will herald the fourth generation (4G) of technology in the wireless communications space, said top officials of the company.

Gurdeep Singh, COO of Aircel made a video call using the test  environment at the R&D facility of  Nokia Siemens Networks in Bengaluru. The call was conducted with 4G mobile technology running on NSN commercial hardware.

The company showed a demo of HD video streaming and 3-way video conferencing.TD-LTE dongles from Samsung were used and a peak speed of 110 Mbps achieved .The demo used LTE equipment and software from Nokia Siemens Networks

“This is an important milestone in building the TD-LTE ecosystem in India,” said Urs Pennanen, NSN”s head of India region.

“TD-LTE over the BWA spectrum is important for the country, as it will allow operators to offer voice and data to the masses. We are ready to collaborate with partners to accelerate our progress toward a comprehensive deployment of TD-LTE in India.”

Juha Lappalainen, Head, Mobile Broadband Sales, NSN, said while 2G was mainly geared to handle voice traffic, 3G technology smartphone users could handle data and voice using several applications. “The 4G technology”, he said, “is meant to ensure high-speed transmission of large amounts of data.” He said the 2.3 GHz band is “likely to be deployed globally,” he added. “Both CDMA and GSM-based systems are likely to converge towards TD-LTE,” Mr. Lappalainen said.