Idea Cellular has introduced its 4G platform to the North East of India, continuing its forward march to supply the high-speed network in over 750 towns across the country. It’s covered nearly 300 cities since the service’s arrival back in December last year.
With the addition of the North East, Idea 4G now has a presence in 9 telecom circles. Its final goal is to reach 10, which is 5 more than what Vodafone can boast of in India. The operator along with Airtel is one of its main competitors here. Idea will also have to face-off against Reliance Jio soon, with the latter preparing for its launch with the unveiling of its self-branded Lyf series of phones.
According to PTI, Idea plans to expand its LTE services to 4 additional North Eastern regions namely Senapati, Kohima, Tura and Imphal by the close of the current financial year. May 2016 will see the arrival of its 4G network in Agartala, Aizwal and Mokokchung in Nagaland. Further into the future, Maharashtra and Goa are set to get the high-speed platform by June this year.
Idea recently announced it was joining hands with Ericsson to improve its 2G and 3G service. This is in addition to handling its 4G rollout in the North East, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The regions collectively serve over 40 million customers who will now benefit from a multi-standard RBS 6000 radio base station.
Also See: Idea joins hands with Ericsson for 4G rollout
The partnership between Idea and Ericsson includes the furnishing of software and equipment for a period of 2 years. The latter is supposed to upgrade the former’s mobile radio access and central network infrastructure. These changes are apparently going to result in faster internet speeds and better performance.