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Telecom major Bharti Airtel is planning to make a phased roll out of 4G services this fiscal year in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
“We are looking to launch it in the next 6-8 months, and by the end of current financial year we will definitely have it in both the states,” said Venkatesh Vijayraghavan, CEO of Airtel’s operations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Stating that the top five cities in both states had the potential to be connected on 4G, he said Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam were on the priority list for Airtel.
Airtel had already made available 4G services in Mumbai, Punjab, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata. While 4G would be a limited play for it pan-India, Airtel expects 3G to be a mass market opportunity for it in the long-term.
The telecom major is expanding its 3G service in both the states to manifold subscriber revenues in the fast-expanding segment. Out of its 2-million customers in the two states, only 10 per cent are connected to 3G now.
By March 2015, it plans to cover all the 270 towns in both the states on the 3G network.
Airtel today launched its first-of-its kind 3G Wi-Fi dongle in the country in AP and Telangana. The dongle enables users to download speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps and also create a single Wi-Fi hotspot for at least five users.
It is available for Rs 2,100 bundled with 6 GB free data for prepaid customers.
