Aircel: Early Bird In 4G Spectrum
Aircel: Early Bird In 4G Spectrum
Many Indian cities have yet to grow beyond 3G but telecom operator Aircel is all set to launch 4G services in Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir. Aircel is the only current private telecom company to provide 2G, 3G and 4G in these 2 states. Aircel' s Chief Marketing Officer Anupam Vasudev has indicated that "We are delighted to now bring highest speed 4G LTE (long term evaluation) services to Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir.
In a statement released by him, it is also mentioned that "This launch comes within a month of our recent 4G LTE deployment in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Odisha.” Aircel currently has rights for 20MHz in a 2,3000 MHz band known as the BWA/broadband wireless access across 8 important circles namely Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, North East and J&k.
The spectrum has also been used for 4G services. With the extension of 4G services to Jammu & Kashmir as well as Tamil Nadu, Aircel is the second firm in Indian following Airtel which has employed 4G services using LTE technology.
Aircel has currently got 2 service areas namely West Bengal and North East. Services have been started using BWA spectrum. As per the current riles, 2015 is the final year for companies that have secured BWA spectrum to roll out services in a majority (90%) of the area. Failing this, the withdrawal of the radiowaves will be allowed by the DOT (Department of Telecom).
The licensee will also ensure that about half the areas under rural telecom exchanges will be able to gain the required street level coverage. This spectrum has also been won by 3 other companies namely Reliance Jio Infocomm, Augere and Tikona Digital who are yet to begin services in this area.
The 3 other players should always remember that it is the early bird that gets the worm. Apart from Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir, the operator has also launched 4G services in Assam, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Aircel is the second operator following Bharti Airtel for launching 4G services in the nation.
As far as enterprise customers are concerned, Aircel will provide dedicated internet as well as secure VPN. Home users will be able to access infotainment services on broadband of high speed. This will connect any Wi-Fi device to support services such as Virtual Home Solutions, Home Security and Smart TVs as well as online gaming and a whole lot more.
Vasudev has also remarked how this has “ strengthened our commitment to spearhead the data revolution by offering innovative products and services in this space. The wireless broadband services offered by Aircel will help customers transform their workplaces and homes into ‘smarter’ entities.”
Aircel is planning to differentiate the 4G LTE services which includes customised offerings with quick turnaround time for services deployment to Home as well as Enterprise customers. The aim is to beat current industry standards to lead the 4G market in India.
