Vodafone has begun distributing 4G SIM cards in the Delhi-NCR region ahead of the high-speed service’s scheduled launch in the metro. The telecom operator had earlier announced it will commence its rollout of the LTE platform in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru by March.
Delhi-NCR Vodafone customers can obtain a 4G SIM for free under the current exchange scheme. The provider’s 10 million subscribers in the area can continue utilizing their existing plan till the LTE network arrives there. The brand is further offering 1GB of free LTE data to anyone who upgrades their card now.
Consumers will be able to access it once the 4G network hits Delhi-NCR. To recall, Vodafone debuted its LTE services in Kerala in December last year. It had started the process of rolling out 4G SIMs earlier this month, starting with Mumbai before moving on to Kolkata.
UK-based Vodafone is set to face a lot of competition within the LTE sector in India. Airtel has already established its 4G services across 296 towns. Idea plans to make its presence felt in 183 locations by the end of January. While Reliance Jio hasn’t commercially launched its platform yet, it’s the only player to own a pan-India license.
Also See: Vodafone in talks to buy Tikona 4G spectrum
Vodafone has the rights to propagate its LTE services in only 5 circles through the 1800MHz spectrum in India as of now. A recent report had claimed that it was looking to double its reach by purchasing Tikona’s 4G bands. The latter owns radiowaves in the 2300MHz bandwidth which covers Rajasthan, UP (East), UP (West), Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Another rumor posits that Vodafone may even be thinking of buying 1800MHz airwaves from Videocon Mobiles. Discussions have supposedly been stalled over valuation differences. Interestingly, Idea recently bought 4G spectrum from the latter for the Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West) circles for Rs 3310 crore.