Vodafone 4G services launched in Mumbai; complete roll-out likely by March

Vodafone India has announced the roll out of its high speed 4G service in prominent business and residential corridors of Mumbai across the Western suburbs and South Mumbai in a phased manner. The roll out will be completed across all parts of Mumbai including the Eastern suburbs and Navi Mumbai license areas by March 2016. This launch follows after launches in other major cities and metros in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkalta and Delhi and NCR. The network is built on an 1800 MHz band and will enable Vodafone 4G customer access the service across a range of smart devices including Mobile Wi-Fi and dongles. The 4G service in Mumbai is built on a strong fiber backhaul of 100G and is supported by Vodafone’s existing 3G services. Speaking at the launch, Sunil Sood, Managing Director and CEO, Vodafone India said, “We are delighted to launch our high-speed 4G services in Mumbai for our customers to experience the most advanced wireless broadband experience available across the globe today. Vodafone’s global expertise and experience of launching 4G across 19 countries gives us a better understanding of this technology and need of the 4G customer. Initial response from customers who have experienced 4G services in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi and NCR has been positive and encouraging. As a steadfast partner of Digital India, we remain focused on deploying multiple technologies – 2G, 3G or 4G for optimum use as each technology has its own vital role to play in servicing the myriad connectivity needs of consumers across the country. " The telecom company had already rolled out 4G-ready SIMs early in January in anticipation of the launch. The 4G SIMs are available at all of its 56 exclusive stores in and around Mumbai. To avail 4G services, customers will need to have a 4G-enabled handset and a new 4G-Ready SIM card. Customers can walk into a Vodafone store and exchange their old SIMs for a new 4G-ready one. For them, data plans will be automatically upgraded to 4G as soon as the service launches. Vodafone 4G RED customers will receive 100% extra data for a month. Vodafone 4G will also activate a 3 month complimentary subscription to TV, Movies and Music on Vodafone Play. This includes more than a hundred Live TV channels and access to HOOQ – the video-on-demand service with over 35,000 hours of movies and TV series. Users can also access Hungama Play and Vodafone Music. The company also announced that 4G Mobile Wi-Fi supports connectivity for up to 10 devices.