Telecom operator Vodafone is planning to expand its 4G services in entire Delhi-NCR in the next 6-8 weeks at par with its 3G service charges.

If Vodafone succeed in doing so, then Vodafone will be the second player offering 4G services to customers in Delhi-NCR after Bharti Airtel.

                             

“We will provide 4G coverage across Delhi NCR in 6-8 weeks. Customers can avail the service at 3G rates. On Vodafone network, we will be delivering download speed of 8-10 megabit per second,” Vodafone India Business Head for Delhi-NCR Apoorva Mehrotra told.

Mehrotra further added that, "Vodafone has made investments of over Rs. 1,000 crore to upgrade its network and crossed 1 crore customers in the Delhi-NCR region by now." Further he continue, “We have installed 3,200 mobile sites in financial year 2016 at the rate of 9 sites per day. Vodafone has more than 15,000 sites in Delhi NCR."

On call drop problem, Mr. Mehrotra said that now significant improvement has been made with the help of Telecom Ministry, it was an issue 7-8 months back.

“Still we are finding it tough to install mobile sites in new buildings that are coming up in NCR region as resident welfare associations resist installing mobile towers. We have faced issues in Lutyen Delhi area and East Delhi and we are working to resolve it,” Mr. Mehrotra said.

The company also unveiled special scheme for youths, Vodafone U, offering calling and data usage at reduced rates.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest private sector company, has created a legacy free, next-generation voice and broadband network which can be seamlessly upgraded even to 5G and beyond. It will be the only company in the world providing next generation digital services over an end-to-end all-IP network at this scale.

Reliance Jio announces the launch of the 8,100 km cable system, the Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG). BBG provides direct connectivity to South East Asia and the Middle East, then onward to Europe, Africa and Far East Asia through seamless interconnection with existing cable systems. Reliance Jio owns and operates the strategically important undersea cable landing facility in Chennai, providing a high-speed, high-capacity, low latency route connecting India to the rest of the world.“

“We are excited about the launch of BBG as it offers not just direct connectivity in and out of India through Chennai and Mumbai but also acts as a state-of-the-art 100 Gbps extension of Jio’s 100 Gbps core network,” said Mathew Oommen, President Reliance Jio. “This global connectivity brings key international content hubs closer to our customers, delivering a much richer experience as an important part of driving India’s broadband adoption, enabling consumers to shift away from the current high-cost low value propositions.”

Providing robust, reliable, low latency connectivity, BBG strengthens one of the fastest growing global internet routes. BBG has deployed the latest submarine cable 100Gbps transmission technology, utilizing wavelength add/drop branching units along the route, with an initial equipped capacity of 9 terabits per second. In addition to Reliance Jio, the BBG partners include: Dialog Axiata, Etisalat, Omantel, Telecom Malaysia, and Vodafone.

Telecom operator Aircel and state owned BSNL has signed 2G intra-circle roaming agreement on pan-India basis. With this BSNL has entered into intra circle roaming agreement.

 

"This is a first agreement between a state owned operator and a private telecom player. With this strategic tie up, both organizations will be able to enhance customer experience besides utilizing each other's assets and network strength," Aircel said in a statement on Monday. The pact is expected to reduce number of call drops, will lead to improved network connectivity as well as quality.

The agreement will help Aircel widen its reach as BSNL has about 1.14 lakh mobile towers across country, said Aircel in a statement.

BSNL has second highest number of mobile towers in the country and also premium 900 Mhz spectrum that it is using for 2G services. With continued investment BSNL expects to have around 1,35,000 mobile towers, maximum owned by a company.

The state-run telecom firm is also in talks with other private telcos for ICR agreements to share its passive infrastructure. For ICR, BSNL has been talking to Telenor, Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel and Reliance Jio.

Along with spectrum sharing, revenue expectations will go much higher, its chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told. BSNL is expected to earn Rs 300-400 crore a year through ICR arrangements starting this financial year.

BSNL has idle spectrum in many locations. "It (spectrum sharing and trading) will be a huge revenue potential for us," Shrivastava added.

BSNL, which recorded Rs 7,600 crore of loss for the previous financial year, expects to cuts its losses by Rs 1,000-1,500 crore for 2015-16.

Vodafone India on Wednesday says it has commenced testing of 4G and expects to roll out the service in phases in Kolkata from December.

"Vodafone will launch its 4G services in Kolkata by end of calendar year 2015. Key business corridors will be part of the first wave of the 4G roll-out, which will be launched across the circle in a phased manner," a Vodafone release said.

"Testing of 4G services has commenced successfully. Vodafone India has partnered with leading global technology infrastructure service providers for the network roll-out," it said.

The telecom major said Kolkata with 25% of data revenues is one of the top data markets for Vodafone in India and was growing at more than 50% YoY.

We are the leading service provider in Kolkata and our customers have a lot to look forward to. We will continue to pursue our customer-centric strategy of continuing to meet their evolving needs for better and smarter connectivity for both voice and data," Vodafone India business head Kolkata and West Bengal, Anand Sahai said.