DHAKA: Bharti Airtel, India's No. 1 telecom carrier, announced a major expansion of its 4G services, preparing for competition with the entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm later this year, apart from rivals Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

With tariffs already at rock bottom, customer experience will be the key differentiating factor in the 4G battle, said Airtel's country head and managing director Gopal Vittal.

The technology allows Internet access on mobile devices at faster speeds than 3G, Economic Times reported.

"This is a very competitive market — it has always been one. Voice and data realisation is among the lowest in the world. What we at Airtel are trying to do is create a great customer experience," Vittal said, when asked whether he anticipated hyper-competition in the telecom industry, as expected by most analysts.

Airtel, which bought 4G airwaves in the 2300 MHz band five years ago and launched commercial 4G services from Kolkata in 2012, didn't expand much after that due to technological constraints and unavailability of devices.

The company's 4G strategy gained momentum only with Jio's recent announcement of launching its telecom services around December. Vodafone, the No. 2 carrier, also said it will start 4G services later this year and Idea plans to start some time in 2016.

Airtel on Thursday said it will complete the rollout of 4G services in 296 towns spread across all 14 circles where it has 4G airwaves over the next few weeks. It currently offers the service in 45 cities and towns.

The telco will offer 4G services at 3G data prices with packs starting at Rs 25. The company also introduced 4G plans offering unlimited voice calls with data benefits and access to its movie and music apps.

BDST: 0909 HRS, AUG 7, 2015
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