Soon, Bharti Airtel may launch voice on 4G LTE network in Bengaluru

New Delhi: Is Bharti Airtel going to launch voice besides high speed data services on 4G LTE network in Bengaluru soon? This morning, the country’s largest telco announced on Twitter that “Only for #airtel #Bangalore mobile customers, enjoy #airtel4G on #LTE enabled smartphones in 3 weeks. More details to follow soon!”

Fourth generation mobile services or 4G is the fastest data service anywhere in the world today. In India, Reliance Industries is the only pan-India 4G license holder but has yet to begin services anywhere. Bharti already has a first mover advantage since it has launched 4G data services in Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and Bengaluru.

If sources are to be believed, Apple is soon going to offer a software on the iphone 5a and iphone 5c phones where 4G LTE technology can be used. This is perhaps when Bharti may want to come forward and offer voice also on 4G, the first telco to do so in India. A Bharti spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

In 2010, Bharti Airtel had successfully bid for BWA license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles. Additionally, Bharti Airtel acquired 100% stake in Qualcomm AP’s India entities that hold BWA licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.

Airtel has been testing 4G LTE smartphones from Samsung, ZTE and other Indian smartphone vendors such as Micromax on its 4G LTE network.