India’s top telecom official says 4G services could be launched in the country as soon as the second half of next year.
“We have large capacities in spectrum to move forward in 4G, which is hopefully going to be launched towards end of next year. Later half of 2012…we should be ready to launch 4G,” Telecom and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal was reported as saying.
The 4G services will enable data transfer speeds of up to 100 Mbps on a device moving at a high speed and up to 1 Gb per second on devices with low mobility.
The auction of 3G spectrum took place in India only in 2010, and the demand for 3G services has yet to fully take off. Analysts say this is because of the relatively low number of 3G devices being sold in the country, a trend that could change dramatically.
But Sibal expressed concerns about the lack of 3G content for the masses and said that most of the content available on 3G services currently only caters to elites.
“We welcome the fact 3G is getting launched, but 3G today is being used for 2G. The market is not deep enough to make sure that ordinary people can access 3G at affordable price,” he said, according to The Times of India.
“You can bring in the device, but you don’t have the content. There is no point of having that device. One of the biggest problem you are facing in the country is that data is just not available,” Sibal said while addressing stakeholders.
Meanwhile, India’s telecom regulator plans to keep incumbent mobile telecom companies out of the first phase of an auction of 700MHz band, considered the most effective frequency for delivering 4G services, The Economic Times reported.
“The regulator, in its communication to the telecom department last week, said limiting the 700 MHz auctions may offer a level playing field to all operators,” the newspaper reported.
