Ready to bring 4G devices to India: Microsoft

Software and mobile handset major Microsoft is ready with 4G band devices, said a senior executive today at the launch of the Lumia 630 in India.   “As soon as the operators decide about the 4G, we can offer them the technology,” said Raghuvesh Sarup, sales director at Nokia India, a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile.   Speaking after the launch of the dual SIM smartphone, the first device with Windows Phone 8.1 system in the country, he said, “We have been LTE-ready with devices starting 2012; we have the technology. As the India LTE landscape has been recently clarified, we are working closely with operators. We also support FDD band 3 (1800MHz) which was recently auctioned.”   Currently telecom operators are busy trying to assess their own network capability for LTE, he said, adding “it’s not yet known which major telecom player will choose what band. But, we are ready.”   Talking about the Lumia 630, first dual SIM smartphone from the Microsoft stable, Sarup noted that over 80 percent of the smartphones sold in the country are dual SIM ones.   Nokia has yet to launch a 4G-compatible device in India, but Android device makers and Apple’s iPhone are compatible with the India band, so Microsoft does have some catching up to do in that sense. After the Lumia 630, there’s not much word about what Indian buyers can expect in the coming months, but we can be sure that at least one or two LTE-ready devices will be coming towards the end of the year, coinciding with the big $G roll-out in the country.   PTI