Get ready for faster, high-speed internet as Reliance Jio, Airtel race to roll out nationwide 4G services

The telecom biggies are clearly in a heated race to roll out nationwide 4G services. While Reliance Jio has said that it will roll out its 4G services by December, India’s largest telco Airtel is on course for the launch of its 4G wireless data service across 44 cities. This means that consumers will be spoilt for choice with high-speed internet at affordable rates. Airtel’s 4G services are already available in select cities, in an attempt to test its services before a formal launch in others later this year. RIL’s telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm is also testing its 4G telecom network and will soon start a beta programme to assess its network quality before commercial launch in December. RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani in June had said that the beta programme will be upgraded into commercial operations around December this year. [caption id=“attachment_2364652” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP image[/caption] RIL said that RJIL has successfully demonstrated legal interception and monitoring rules compliance of its 4G network for high speed wireless internet, phone calls, video and messaging service across the country. Besides legal monitoring, the company has also demonstrated its capabilities to electronically verify Aadhaar number of customers seeking mobile connections. Over the next three years, Jio has plans to more than double its optical fibre network and connect over 1 million homes by April 2016. Reliance has already tied up with over 1,000 retail ‘Jio Centre’ outlets in the country to make sure that interested customers have easy access to the new service when it is rolled out. In fact Reliance Retail has gone into an overdrive to ensure supply of affordable 4G enabled handsets for the Jio’s customers. Reliance Digital has over 1200 outlets across India, including those of Reliance Digital Express and Reliance Mini Express stores, which will sell the low-cost smartphones. The devices could be priced below Rs.4,000 and broadband service can be accessed with a monthly fee of as low as Rs 300 to Rs 500. Bharti has also upped its game. To take on Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel is planning to launch a dual mode 4G phone in the price range of Rs 4,000-Rs 12,000 by Oct-Nov, weeks before RJio’s plan to launch a 4G smartphone. According to a report in the Business Standard, Airtel has also joined hands with online retailers like Flipkart, and original equipment manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi, to introduce 4G devices at affordable prices. It’s reportedly betting on the fact that its existing 3G customers will consider migrating to 4G, as the prices are not very different while speeds are significantly higher. “For existing Airtel customers, a SIM-swap facility is available; it will enable a smooth switch to the 4G service in 10 minutes, without any disruption. The company is also looking at offering the service bundled with handsets that could be priced as low as Rs 4,000. The 4G service will be offered not only on mobile phones but also through dongles and Wi-Fi CPEs (customer premise equipment/routers). The dongles are priced at Rs 1,500 while the CPEs cost Rs 2,500. At present, the company is offering 40 GB of 4G data for Rs 2,000 (for CPEs),” the BS report said. But when it comes to  quality of service, it is possible Reliance Jio will score over Airtel. Being a new entrant in 4G smartphone services, the network is expected to be less clogged than its competitor.