Airtel completes pan-India 4G expansion,Vodafone launches 4G services in Nagpur

MUMBAI: India’s top telecom service providers are fast building their defences to ring-fence their customer base in the face of a no-holds barred onslaught by Reliance Jio, which with free data offers and Pan-India presence are pulling in users by the millions.

On Tuesday, Bharti Airtel, India’s number one telecom operator, said it has completed its pan-India 4G footprint by launching high-speed broadband services in Assam, starting with Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, matching Reliance Jio in presence.

Vodafone, the country’s number two telecom operator, launched its 4G services in Nagpur, with a promise to make it available in more towns and cities across Maharashtra by March. The launch expands Vodafone's 4G footprint to 12 circles spread across the country.

Airtel has rolled out its 4G services in Assam using TD LTE technology in the 2300 MHz band. The telco will also deploy FD LTE technology in 1800 MHz band in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

“With the launch, customers can also look forward to exciting data offers, and choose from a host of affordable tariff plans that offer great value,” Sameer Anjaria, CEO, Airtel North Eastern States and Assam, said in the statement. The launch of Airtel 4G in Assam is a part of Project Leap, for which the company is investing Rs 60,000 crore over three years.

Airtel also launched new plans for its pre-paid users, wherein a subscriber will get 10 GB 4G data at Rs 249 with any new 4G handset, effectively offering 1GB data for as low a price as around Rs 25.

With the launch in Nagpur, the Maharashtra circle, Vodafone now has 4G presence in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi & NCR, Mumbai, Haryana, UP East, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Assam and North East circles.

The telco has planned 4G launches shortly in Goa, Punjab, UP West, Chennai and Tamil Nadu.

“Maharashtra is a key market for Vodafone India. We will shortly expand the Vodafone SuperNet TM 4G service across the entire state in a phased manner," Ashish Chandra, business head, Maharashtra & Goa circle at Vodafone India, said in a statement.