Aircel to launch 4G services by December

The pricing is likely to the similar to the 3G prices that Aircel currently offers. It will offer content and other services through the network.

Aircel, which holds 4G spectrum in eight circles, will start rolling out 4G services over LTE TDD network starting from Chennai between October to December this year.

According to a report of the Business Standard, Aircel will invest Rs 2,800 crore to setup the network.

Aircel has 4G spectrum in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, North-East, Jammu & Kashmir. It has 3G spectrum in 13 circles which include Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) Kerala, Punjab, UP (East), Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar & Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, North East, and Jammu & Kashmir.

The newspaper also quoted Sandip Das, chief executive officer of Malaysian telco Maxis Berhad (which controls a majority stake in Aircel), as saying, "Aircel will not only provide mobile 4G services through dongles and devices but also get into consumer homes by offering broadband internet, broadcasting, video on demand, education and health care services, among others".

In India, Airtel is the only operator which has so far launched 4G services in Kolkata and Bangalore and shortly plans to launch in Delhi, Mumbai (with Qualcomm) and Pune.

Reliance Industries with PAN India 4G spectrum is also expected to start rollout service by December.