Bharti Airtel commences 4G trials in Chennai

Bharti Airtel has started 4G trials for its existing customers in Chennai, as part of its plan to provide complimentary upgrades to 4G. Customers in Chennai can now access 4G services at 3G prices.

The company will use this trial phase as an opportunity to gather customer feedback about quality of 4G services.

''As more and more Indians show a preference for consuming data and content over their mobile devices, we at Airtel are excited to bring the power of 4G for our customers in Chennai. Over the last few months, we at Airtel have made significant investments in building a robust 4G network here,'' said George Mathen, CEO – Kerala & Tamil Nadu of Bharti Airtel (India).

''We want our existing customers to be the first ones to enjoy the Airtel 4G experience and are offering them a free upgrade to Airtel 4G at the same price as 3G,'' he added.

To avail this offer, existing Airtel customers with 4G-ready mobile devices can walk into any of Airtel's retail outlets across Chennai and upgrade to a 4G SIM.

Airtel has also entered into a marketing partnership with Samsung to expand the user base for 4G devices. Accordingly, Samsung India and Airtel have decided to promote each others' 4G offerings at their respective outlets.

As part of this arrangement, Samsung India's retail stores will now facilitate 4G SIM swap for customers buying 4G smartphones. Later, Samsung will also offer bundled Airtel 4G SIMs along with Samsung 4G handsets available in the Indian market.

Airtel 4G double data offers are now available for Samsung's Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A5 mobile devices. Samsung will also be looking at launching its all new Core Prime 4G mobile smartphone in Airtel 4G markets.

Earlier in April 2012, Airtel had launched 4G service in Kolkata, making it the first operator to launch the services. Airtel's 4G services are now available across India including Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chandigarh and Amritsar.