India’s leading telecommunication major Airtel is currently planning to expand its existing
4G network in Kolkata to attract more customers towards it. According to the
early estimation the whole project will need a fund of around Rs. 1,500 to Rs.
3,000 crore.
Mr. Atin Ghosh, who is the Mayor-in-Council (engineering and
health) of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), provided some lights into this
whole matter. Here we are adding a small excerpt from what he actually said
while talking with the reporters.
"Airtel officials had met me to increase
fibre network coverage by anywhere between 500km and 1000km for expanding 4G
services. We had provided Airtel the draft licensing agreement required
for cable laying and they have said they will revert in the next 7-10 days. If
they lay 1000 km of optical fibre for 4G, the investment will be in excess of
Rs. 3000 crore "
We all know that Airtel is
the first telecom major of the country that had started providing 4G services
for the users. Currently Airtel 4G network is in active in cities like Kolkata, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Pune.
Earlier we have informed you all that the telecommunication firm is all set to
provide 4G services in Delhi region too by the end of September 2013. It
has chosen popular equipment making company Huawei for the network.
But recently Mukesh Ambani
led Reliance Jio Infocomm has shown some real interest to launch 4G network in
Kolkata. The firm has already attended an important meeting with KMC in order
to get the needed permission for some 750 km of optical fibre network, which
will be necessary to get it started.
Now Airtel is clearly
sensing that the competitions in this 4G base are very much likely to come in
the upcoming months, and for that it is considering to expand its own network
to strengthen its grip over this particular market in the city.
Till now the company had
invested Rs. 600 crore for the 4G network in Kolkata, and so far the coverage
area too is limited in the central business district of the city only. It has
taken some needed steps like reducing the tariff rates, expanding the data
usage etc to attract more users to use 4G, and it seems like it will continue
to do so in the days to come.
Final Words
Now with the expansion of Airtel 4G in Kolkata, the users of the
city should be getting much more coverage area to access this high-speed network. Are you excited to use Airtel 4G in your
smartphone? Feel free to share your thoughts with us by commenting below.
