[Warwithwheels]

NEW DELHI: Communications minister Kapil Sibal is expected to launch Bharti Airtel's broadband wireless access (BWA) services based on 4G technology in Kolkata on Tuesday.

"We are expecting communications minister Kapil Sibal tomorrow," a senior company executive said.

A successor to the 3G and 2G families, 4G is expected to be five times quicker than 3G services. It would offer services such as high-definition mobile TV and video conferencing.

Airtel has selected Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE to manage its services in Kolkata.

The firm bagged BWA spectrum in four circles -- Kolkata, Maharastra, Punjab and Karnataka -- for Rs.3,314.36 crore in 2010 along with other players including Reliance Infotel (earlier known as Infotel Broadband Services), Qualcomm, Tikona, Aircel and Augere.

While Infotel became the only player to win a pan-India licence, Qualcomm bagged licences in four circles, Tikona in five circles, Aircel in eight circles and Augere in one circle.

The auction fetched the exchequer over Rs.38,500 crore.

With this launch, Airtel will become the first player to launch the 4G service in India. The company said that launch of the service in other circles will happen soon.

The other players are yet to announce plans to roll-out 4G services.

Source

[abhinav.gupta88]

Man, that was fast. it was only last year that the 3g services came in. Telecom Industry

[Me-hul]

Can we expect 3G prices to drop(at least a bit) after this?

[madnish30]

Already launched ... Install or Not | News: Airtel 4G LTE Services Launched in Kolkata, 4G Airtel Webpage Goes Live

[Bluengel180]

This Dont see the point of this launch. Unlike the 3G launch where we already had 3G capable devices.Is there a single 4G capable device in the country? a 4G phone or 4G modems?Who is going to test/try out this new network and how? the least Airtel could have done was to simultaneously launch a number of 4G devices to go along with their new network.

[madnish30]

Originally Posted by Bluengel180

This Dont see the point of this launch. Unlike the 3G launch where we already had 3G capable devices.Is there a single 4G capable device in the country? a 4G phone or 4G modems?Who is going to test/try out this new network and how? the least Airtel could have done was to simultaneously launch a number of 4G devices to go along with their new network.

I think they are starting with LTE dongles first not LTE data on phones.

4G devices will only come once 4G is widely present - no manufacturer will bring devices as 4G radio needs more hardware and different chipset they will not bring them without any use of it - just like NFC.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Bluengel180

.Is there a single 4G capable device in the country? a 4G phone or 4G modems?

Samsung Epic 4G on CDMA. Available only as an 'unofficial import' on Reliance (Tata does not allow 'foreign' MEIDs)

[ottocycle]

Source:
Bharti Airtel launches India's first 4G service - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced that it has launched fourth generation mobile services in Kolkata and claimed that this initiative had also resulted in India becoming one of the first countries in the world to commercially deploy this cutting-edge technology.

Airtel's 4G (TD-LTE) network was launched by telecom minister Kapil Sibal.

The launch will trigger a new phase of accelerated equitable and inclusive economic growth through proliferation of broadband services as envisioned by the draft National Telecom Policy, the company said.

"Today's launch is a major milestone for India and Airtel. Over the past 15 years Airtel has been at the forefront of India's telecom revolution and has set the technology trends in India by aligning with the global standards. We are delighted to now provide leadership in setting the technology standard for 4G services in India by introducing the cutting edge TD-LTE," Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said..

We are confident that others will follow in this direction and participate in our pioneering effort of making TD-LTE the defacto 4G standard in India. I would like to thank all our stakeholders in helping us fulfill the Government's vision of Broadband on Demand, outlined by the Hon'ble Telecom Minister. I would also like to thank the Government of West Bengal for their support and cooperation that has made this launch possible and once again reiterate our commitment to participate in the development of the state," Mittal said.

"High speed wireless broadband has the potential to transform India, provide a robust platform for building the country's digital economy and truly empower people. With one of the largest pools of young population in the world, India will see massive growth in consumption of data and content over mobile devices and proliferation of mobile commerce. I look forward to Airtel playing a pivotal role in shaping this exciting future for India," Mittal added.

In 2010, Airtel had successfully bid for BWA license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles. It is currently working towards rolling out state-of-the-art networks in circles other than Kolkata.

[AbhiJ]

If I take a 4g connection in my Samsung Galaxy i9100 (not 4g compatible, HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps) will I get true 3g speeds at least?

[Durango Dude]

This was just like the 'unleaded petrol only' car introduction in the mid 90's the cars came first and then the fuel; so for some period of time people had to hunt for bunks dispensing the fuel or use the leaded one and ruin their cat con. As such the wireless dongles need 'altitude' or antennae to work, hope they don't promise 20Mbps whereas the 'ground' reality is something like 20 Kbps.

[Bluengel180]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

If I take a 4g connection in my Samsung Galaxy i9100 (not 4g compatible, HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps) will I get true 3g speeds at least?

You cannot use the 4G network on any of the existing phones.4G needs different hardware. hence only phones with build in LTE chipsets will be able to use 4G.None of these are available in india yet

[Invinsible]

It Could work with devices that comes with HSDPA+. Most samsung devices have HSDPA+. Another few months and we'll see many such devices coming in with quadcore processors and LTE chipset. GSIII will be launched with LTE.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

This was just like the 'unleaded petrol only' car introduction in the mid 90's the cars came first and then the fuel; so for some period of time people had to hunt for bunks dispensing the fuel or use the leaded one and ruin their cat con. As such the wireless dongles need 'altitude' or antennae to work, hope they don't promise 20Mbps whereas the 'ground' reality is something like 20 Kbps.

Reminds me of the fun we had driving my son's Zen to Manipal. Here to Gwalior no problem. Gwalior-Indore we tanked up (luckily) at Shivpuri. Then zilch to Indore. Indore-Pune got it at Dhule only. Then Pune-Panjim we were really running dry, was able to get it a Kudal only (the tank took in 32 litres), then Panjim and Manipal. Got the Cat replaced by a pipe piece there. Later three months later there was a news item that MRPL had been supplying only unleaded for six months! So my son did another three months and got the Cat put back again. This was when the GoI was claiming to have Unleaded freely available on the NH network (not more than 50 km between bunks selling U/L)

As for bandwidth they only say up to ..... so it means nothing. Reminds me of the story of a butcher accused of mixing horse meat in chicken. When the beak asked him how much he said 50:50. When asked to elaborate he said one horse to one chicken!!

[Bluengel180]

Originally Posted by Invinsible

It Could work with devices that comes with HSDPA+. .

Nope. HSDPA+ is still 3G.

[vigneshnr]

Samsung had launched 4G variants in the US in their popular models - Galaxy note / SII few months back.
AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note 4G LTE available now | Android Community
I believe many other brands would have such subsidised offers.

The way network providers and mobile handset makers join hands to make the deal lucrative. The Samsung Note with Contract comes to 15k ($299) which is less than half the current price of the model in India.

Operators do such deals only with iphone.. no idea why they don't do with other brands like HTC, LG, Samsung etc. Any expert here to throw some light ?.

With the advent of 4G in India, I wonder whether we would see such deals here. This would help in popularising the service on one side. And on the other side I would be happy to upgrade