Airtel Launches 4G Mobile Internet Services in Kolkata

The company had launched 4G services in Kolkata in 2012 which could be accessed only through dongles.

"With the roll-out of Airtel 4G services on mobile, customers can experience an all new electrifying Internet browsing experience anytime, anywhere," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

4G mobile Internet technology can provide download speeds of around 100Mbps on the move and it can go up to 1Gbps at a fixed location.

At this speed, a Bollywood movie of 650MB to 750MB size can be downloaded in less than ten seconds.

The company said customers using 4G-enabled handsets like Apple iPhone 5s or 5c have to upgrade their existing SIM to a 4G SIM to avail the services.

Airtel said prepaid users can access 4G services with plans starting at Rs. 42. It also added plans of Rs. 999 for postpaid and Rs. 995 for prepaid for heavy data users which will offer 10GB of 4G data.

Postpaid users can further customise their 4G plans by opting for an Airtel myPlan. "While data browsing will be on 4G network, voice calls will be routed on 2G seamlessly with the CSFB (circuit switched fall back) technology," I the company added in a statement.

Airtel had won spectrum for high-speed broadband service - Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) - in four telecom services areas of Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka in 2010.

It later acquired Qualcomm's broadband services subsidiary in India, which had 4G spectrum in New Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.