Airtel to start 4G trial in Chennai; Mumbai and Hyderabad to follow soon
Telecom major Bharti Airtel will start 4G services trial in Chennai from May 14 and after that in Mumbai and Hyderabad by the end of this month.
“Airtel will start trial of 4G services in Chennai from May 14 in 1800 Mhz band. It has sent out invite to some bloggers to experience its services,” according to a source.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel spokesperson declined to comment. “The company’s network to launch FDD LTE (4G) in Hyderabad is also ready. The trials for the same is expected to start this month. In Mumbai, the company will provide TDD LTE (4G) in 2300 Mhz band. The trial for Mumbai 4G service is also planned for this month,” the source said.
Currently, Bharti Airtel offers 4G services in 19 cities across the country, including Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.
It had, in January, announced that it plans to launch 4G services in Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Punjab by December 2015, Karnataka by February 2016 and Rajasthan by April 2016.
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal in March said that the company has plans to double its 4G network by installing about 20,000 more sites in addition to 20,000 sites it already has for 4G service.
