Idea launches 4G services in all four south Indian telecom circles

Idea Cellular has announced the launch of its 4G services across all the five South Indian states.

In the first phase, the operator's services will be available across 75 towns in  Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

While the services are now available in Kochi, Hosur, Kadapa, Mallapuram, Madurai, Mysore, Rajahmundry, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam, fr4om 1 December, its 4G services will bw available in Belgaum, Calicut, Cuddalore, Chitradurga, Guntur, Kakinada, Kancheepuram and Trichur.

By March 2016 he Aditya Birla group company's 4G services will be expanded across all Southern India metros and large towns including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Mangalore and Coimbatore.

It will also launch the services in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra & Goa, Punjab, Haryana, North East and Orissa, in a phased manner.

By June 2016, the company's 4G footprint will cover 750 cities across 10 telecom circles.

''Worldwide, 4G technology is gaining widespread acceptance with global 4G subscriptions crossing 1 billion mark. The launch of Idea 4G LTE services will further expand Idea's wireless broadband network and propel the brand to an even higher growth trajectory, consolidating its market position,'' said Himanshu Kapania, managing director, Idea Cellular.

Idea Cellular has launched the services on 1800 MHz spectrum, considered to the most popular as most devices as tuned on this frequency, in these 10 circles. These circles cover 50 per cent of telecom market and Idea Cellular gets more than 60 per cent of its gross revenues from these markets.

Additionally, Idea recently entered into a spectrum trading agreement with Videocon Telecommunications to use the latter's 1800 MHz spectrum across Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West).

Post the completion of this transaction, which is awaiting regulatory clearances, the company will extend the services to 12 service areas, increasing coverage to 75 per cent of its revenue base.

Idea has also partnered with leading handset manufacturers and e-commerce retailers for special data bundling offers on new 4G smartphones.

''Idea is proactively working on creating an ecosystem which will enable India to transition to the exciting new digital world. Our wide range of attractive bundled 4G smartphone offers, rich digital content and consumer friendly plans will enable all customers to experience Idea's latest world class 4G services,'' said Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular.

Idea says it has received over a million services requests from existing customers on its pre-book offer.