To give Reliance Jio a tough fight, Bharti Airtel (another leading mobile network operator) is preparing Airtel VoLTE launch in India.
Airtel Alert (Airtel VoLTE launch)
According to the latest reports by ETTelecom Airtel has signed a big deal with Nokia in $60 million(420 crores) to launch VoLTE in India. This is expected to be in the market in next 12 to 18 months. It is being speculated that Airtel has taken the step to introduce voice over LTE, to counter Reliance Jio’s popularity.
CEO’s Say
Bharti Airtel’s chief executive Gopal Vittal said,“… and even as a sub-GHz band is best in deploying voice, 1,800 Mhz band is also very good.We are future-proofing our network for VoLTE and looking at deploying equipment switch in key markets”. Which again confirms that Airtel is surely moving to voice over LTE.
Airtel has recently also signed $230 million deal with Nokia for the development of 4G in nine circles in India. Airtel has been piloting the technology in few areas and after successful testing, it may launch it in key markets.
Currently, Bharti Airtel offers 4G services in nineteen circles except for Assam, U.P. and, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Cause
The main reason for this move is said to be the increasing popularity of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio. As of now, Jio is the only telecom which is offering VoLTE based call service in India. This definitely had led to a great hustle bustle in rest of the leading network operating companies like Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular in the beginning. And now all the networks are looking for ways to keep a grip on the market.
For any updates on Bharti Airtel click here (official newsroom Bharti airtel)
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