Idea Launches 4G Mobile Services, Starting With South India

Idea Cellular on Wednesday forayed into providing 4G services to customers with the launch of its 4G LTE services across five southern states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

In the first phase, the company's 4G network will be available across 75 towns in southern India. The major towns to be covered are Kochi, Hosur, Kadapa, Malappuram, Madurai, Mysuru, Rajahmundry, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam.

Belgaum, Calicut, Cuddalore, Chitradurga, Guntur, Kakinada, Kancheepuram and Trichur will follow by December 31.

Idea will rapidly expand 4G services in all southern metros and large towns including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru and Coimbatore by March 2016.

Idea is also gearing to launch 4G LTE services by March 2016 in other key markets like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Goa, Punjab, Haryana, Northeast and Odisha circles, in a phased manner.

By June 2016, Idea's 4G footprint will cover 750 cities across 10 telecom circles, it said.

"Worldwide, 4G technology is gaining widespread acceptance with global 4G subscriptions crossing the 1 billion mark. The launch of Idea 4G LTE services will further expand Idea's Wireless Broadband network and propel the brand to an even higher growth trajectory, consolidating its market position," said Idea Cellular managing director Himanshu Kapania.

Idea has rolled out its frequency division duplex (FDD) platform enabled 4G LTE services on the 1800 MHz frequency band.