The Bharati Airtel has launched its 3G services over mobile phones in Vijayawada and Guntur cities and proposes to rollout the service in 50 towns in the State within next few months.
The Bharati Airtel Mobile Services CEO Sharlin Thayil and Chief Operating Officer Mrali Kittu for AP, formally launching the services here on Thursday, expected the data usage to go up in the coming months following launch of the 3G services, which basically helps access the internet on mobile at speeds reaching up to 21 mbps depending on the handset used. With 10,000 towers all over the State and a customer base of 1.7 crore, Mr. Thayil expects the 3G customer base would also increase phenomenally.
The Bharati Airtel had rolled out these services in 36 cities in the country and proposes to expand it to 500 cities in next few months, which would provide customers a chance to talk to the caller through video phone and also watch about 70 TV Channels, movie clippings etc.
Tariff plan
Existing customers could migrate to the 3G services without changing their SIM card just by sending an SMS: 3G HELP to 121 from their 3G-enabled handsets.
It offers several 3G tariff plans beginning with Rs.8 for 30 minutes and monthly plans from Rs.100 to Rs.750 based on amount of data usage. For high volume of data usage customers could choose different plans, he added. Currently the entire Municipal Corporation areas of Vijayawada and Guntur cities have been covered and towers expanded in course of time to semi-urban areas too, he observed.
The COO of the company explained various salient features of the 3G services and said that their services met Telephone Regulatory Authority of India Service Quality Index. A larger number of subscribers to the new services were youth followed by professionals, said Mr. Murali.
