Idea Expands High-Speed 4G LTE Offering to 7 Telecom Circles

Idea Cellular, one of the largest Indian telecom operators, has announced the launch of its high speed 4G LTE services across four more states in India (three Telecom Circles) – Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. With this launch, the company has expanded its 4G LTE service footprint to 7 telecom service areas, including the 4 telecom circles of South India, namely Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu & Chennai, which were launched on 23^rd December 2015. Idea’s 4G LTE services will be available across 183 towns in these 7 telecom service areas by 31^st January 2016.

Major towns to be covered with Idea’s 4G LTE services at launch include the cities of Indore, Bhopal and Raipur in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (MPCG), Chandigarh, Firozpur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Moga and Pathankot in Punjab, and Ambala, Karnal, Hissar, Panipat, Rohtak and Sonipat in Haryana. Other major towns including Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jalandhar, Muktsar, Patiala, Sangrur, Charkhidadri and Pinjore will follow by 31^st January 2016.

Idea Cellular is the leading mobile telecom service provider in MPCG, providing unmatchable coverage on 2G platform and an extensive network of 3G services across these two states. With this launch, Idea Cellular has become the first mobile telecom operator to offer latest 4G services in MPCG. The company’s world-class 4G services will rapidly expand to cover 84 towns includingAmbikapur, Anuppur, Bhilai, Bilaspur, Chhatarpur, Katni, Kawardha, Korba, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajnandgaon, Ratlam, Sagar, Satna, Sehore, Shahdol, Shivpuri, Ujjain and Vidisha by March 2016.

Announcing the expansion of 4G services Mr. Ambrish Jain, Deputy Managing Director, Idea Cellularsaid, “Since last week of December 2015, Idea has rapidly rolled out its high-speed 4G LTE network to cover 7 major markets in India. By March 2016, our services will extend to 3 more key markets namely, Maharashtra & Goa, North East and Orissa, and by June 2016, Idea’s 4G footprint will cover 750 cities across 10 telecom circles.”

Idea Cellular currently holds 1800 MHz 4G spectrum in these 10 Telecom circles which cover 50% of telecom market but over 60% of Idea’s gross revenue. Additionally, Idea has recently signed an agreement with Videocon Telecommunications Limited for acquiring ‘Right to Use’ 1800 MHz spectrum under ‘Spectrum Trading Agreement’ in two of its key telecom leadership markets of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West). Post completion of this transaction, 4G services will be extended to 12 service areas, covering 75% of Idea’s revenue base in the country.

According to Mr. Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular, “Idea customers with 4G devices in these 183 towns can now start experiencing superfast speeds by simply upgrading their existing SIM cards to new 4G SIM cards. The company is also offering attractive subscription plans to digital content including a wide range of the latest Music, Movies and Games. Idea has also partnered with leading handset manufacturers and e-commerce retailers for special data bundling offers on new 4G smartphones.”

Idea has 2.7 million 4G devices, nearly 4% of its subscriber base in these 7 telecom service areas, registered on its network. In comparison, on an All India basis, Idea has nearly 49.5 million customers owning 3G devices (approx. 29% of EoP) and over 6 million customers with 4G devices (approx. 4% of EoP).