Airtel Launches 4G Services in Ludhiana

Bharti Airtel on Monday launched its fourth generation (4G) mobile telecommunications technology services in Ludhiana, with plans for postpaid users starting at Rs. 100. Ludhiana becomes second city in Punjab after Mohali where the country's largest mobile operator is offering 4G services.

Airtel has services also in Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh and Panchkula. "With this roll out, the industrial hub becomes the first city in the country to witness the electrifying Internet browsing experience simultaneously on dongles, Wi-Fi CPEs (customer premise equipment/routers) and mobile phones," the company said in a statement.

Airtel said customers on iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c can access 4G by upgrading to a universal or 4G SIM, as the company is using the 2300MHz TD-LTE band (like previous implementations) to provide 4G services. Other phones that support the 2300MHz TD-LTE band, like Airtel's co-branded phone with Huawei, the Ascend P1 LTE, as well as the Xolo LT900 and LG G2, will also be able to enjoy the 4G services.

(Also see: Airtel launches 'India's first 4G on mobile' in Bangalore)

"As a brand, we are committed to enriching the lives of millions and invite our data savvy customers in the city to enjoy this world class data experience which we are offering at unbeatable prices," Bharti Airtel (India) Hub CEO -Upper North Manu Sood said.

The company has launched special packs of Rs. 999 (for postpaid - mobiles, dongles and CPEs) and Rs. 995 (for prepaid-mobiles only). For postpaid mobile customers, the plans will start as low as Rs. 100, the company said. 4G mobile Internet technology provides download speeds of around 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) on the move and it can go up to 1 Gigabits per second (Gbps) at a fixed location.

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 WBSPL, which had 4G spectrum in New Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.