Videocon Telecom has announced that it plans to roll out 4G LTT FDD services on 1800 Mhz across 29 key cities UP (East), UP (West) and Bihar circles. It will invest over Rs 1200 crores in next 3 years for 4G roll out in the cities across these 3 circles. It holds 5Mhz liberalized spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band in the circles. In remaining coverage area it would offer 2G voice on own network.
4G LTE FDD technology is very efficient on 1800 MHz and allows greater speeds & accommodates higher subscriber base to provide an unmatched customer experience, says the company. The company will be the first telco to offer 4G LTT FDD services on 1800 Mhz in the country with digital voice.
It will first roll out 4G in 6 cities in phase 1, 12 cities in phase 2 and remaining 11 cities on phase 3 covering the key potential cities across these circles. It will be working closely with Deloitte as their consulting partner and Huawei & NSN as their technology partner. It will offer 4G data at 2G/3G rates to encourage early adoption and will also be offering bundled devices, including MiFi dongles.
Commenting on the announcement, Arvind Bali, Director & CEO, Videocon Telecom said,
Mobile telephony is now over 20 years old now in the country, with still predominantly Voice play. Having lost the momentum that we built in 2010, we re-entered the industry just 2 years back. The voice market is already skimmed, with the incumbents in a dominating position having acquired a sizeable base of stable, loyal and high usage subscribers. Given the market dynamics, it doesn’t make sense for a new Telco to compete in the voice domain with ever shrinking margins & high cost.
Further, 5Mhz spectrum is not enough to accommodate both Voice and Data. Looking at all the possibilities, we have strategized to look at the opportunity differently & utilize the entire 5Mhz liberalized spectrum for rollout of 4G data services in select key cities and offer voice on overlay network in these cities. In other cities/towns, we will be offering voice on our Network. Our strategy now is to take the first mover advantage on data & do what we couldn’t do on voice having missed the bus. This will also give is the distinction of being the first telco to offer 4G LTT FDD services on 1800 Mhz in the country.