Vodafone India said it will launch its 4G services in Delhi-NCR by December 2015. Key corridors of Delhi-NCR will be part of the first wave of the 4G roll-out, which will be launched across the circle in a phased manner, it added.
“Testing of 4G services has commenced successfully. Vodafone India has partnered with leading global technology infrastructure service providers for the network roll-out. With some of the latest technological developments on the anvil, Vodafone is building robust and resilient network architecture with a strong backup to support the volumes and need for speed from customers,” the company said.
Further, Vodafone is investing heavily into high capacity backhaul to significantly increase the internet connectivity to the rest of the world, which will benefit all its data subscribers. Delhi-NCR with around 30% of data revenues is one of the top data markets for Vodafone in India and is growing at around 50% YoY.
“We are one of the leading service provider in Delhi-NCR and our customers have a lot to look forward to. We are excited to launch our new 4G services on the superior 1800 MHz band for our customers. Having launched 4G services in several countries, Vodafone has the requisite expertise and experience to ensure that its service in Delhi-NCR will be best in class,” said Apoorva Mehrotra, Business Head–Delhi and NCR, Vodafone India, said,
Vodafone said it remains committed towards making necessary investments in network expansion and modernization for enhancing overall customer experience.
Among the big three operators, Vodafone has the least amount of 4G spectrum and is behind Idea Cellular in this matter. Once Reliance Communications also converts its CDMA spectrum into 4G spectrum, Vodafone will be No. 5 in India as far as LTE capability is concerned.
However, the company is likely to acquire some spectrum from smaller competitors under India’s new spectrum trading policy to boost its 4G footprint.
It also said that it has invested more than Rs 350 crores to upgrade the existing voice and data network and installed more than 550 sites in the last 6 months in Delhi-NCR alone.
It has also made significant investments in upgrading its own network plus modernizing the radio network and switching systems to provide customers with a superior mobile internet experience. In addition, charging platforms have also been upgraded to facilitate a wider bouquet of products and services.
Vodafone is also rolling out 4G networks in several other circles. Two months ago, it said Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Kochi will be part of the first wave of its 4G roll-out.
Vodafone India had successfully acquired additional 4G (LTE) spectrum in 5 circles viz. Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Kerala and Karnataka in February 2014 auctions. These circles together contribute close to 50% of the total data revenues for Vodafone India.
Bharti Airtel’s 4G is now available in over 60 cities in India and it is expected that Reliance Jio will also launch 4G services pan-India by December.
Vodafone is also setting up 3G networks in 7 circles – Assam, North East, UP West, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Odisha.
Vodafone and Idea have 1800 MHz 3G spectrum, while Jio and Airtel have both 1800 MHz and 2.3 GHz spectrum.