JOIN USBharti Airtel, India’s top telecom operator by subscribers, announced the launch of its high speed 4G services in 296 towns across India. Airtel said its customers can enjoy 4G at 3G data prices. The packs start at Rs 25.
“We have now built India’s first commercial 4G network that will make high speed mobile broadband a reality. The national roll-out today is another small step in our journey,” Bharti Airtel (India and South Asia) MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said at the launch.
In addition, with every 4G SIM swap, Airtel said, it will offer six months of unlimited music streaming and downloads on ‘Wynk Music’ and five free movies per month for six months on the Eros Now channel of ‘Wynk Movies’, Airtel said in a statement.
It also introduced a new range of ‘Infinity Plans’ starting Rs 999. These high-end plans offer unlimited voice calls on mobile (first time in India) along with data benefits and access to ‘Wynk Movies’ and ‘Wynk Music’.
Bharti Airtel had earlier launched 4G service in select cities in India. Airtel also announced tie-ups with Flipkart and Samsung for bundling 4G handsets with its services. To use Airtel 4G, customers need to switch to a 4G SIM. Apart from Airtel stores, Samsung retail stores will also facilitate 4G SIM swaps, the telecom operator said.
It introduced an automated platform called Flexpage that allows customers to track their data usage and get real time usage alerts. Earlier, Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, had announced that it would launch 4G services by year-end.
Analysts say that the launch of Reliance Jio services will intensify competition in the telecom sector. The number of mobile web users in India is expected to reach an estimated 314 million by the end of 2017.