Videocon Mobile Services on Monday said it plans to partner Nokia Siemens Networks to roll out fourth generation (4G) technology based broadband services.
Videocon had bagged spectrum in seven telecom circles, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Bihar and Jharkhand at the auctions held in November.
Though this spectrum is in the 1800 MHz band, used till now for 2G mobile services, Videocon wants to deploy 4G-based broadband service. But the key issue here will be the availability of devices that supports 4G data on this spectrum band. Videocon is, therefore, planning to start offering data services instead of voice as this can be done through dongles.
Arvind Bali, Director and CEO, Videocon Mobile Services, said, “4G Network is capable of providing comprehensive Internet Protocol-based telecom solutions that allows voice, data and streamed multimedia services in a seamless manner at much higher data speed than the existing generation network including 2G and 3G.”
Videocon will be in direct competition to the likes of Reliance Industries backed Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel. While Airtel has launched 4G based broadband services in select areas of Bangalore and Pune, other operators are yet to start. High cost of devices and the cost of setting up a full mobile network are acting as dampeners.
thomas.thomas@thehindu.co.in