Idea Cellular, India’s third largest national mobile operator with over 170 million subscribers, on Thursday announced the expansion of its high speed fourth generation (4G) LTE services across 39 towns, including Bengaluru, of Karnataka.
Within a month, the company has expanded its 4G LTE service footprint to 24 districts, including Bengaluru, Mysore, Madikeri, Karwar, Chikmagalur, Belgaum and Chitradurga, covering 20 per cent of the total population of the state, according to a company statement. It plans to go to Mangalore, Udupi-Manipal, Bijapur, Bellary, and 18 more towns by end of this financial year, taking the total tally to 61.
Idea Cellular has 8.6 million consumers in Karnataka. In December 2015, it had announced the launch of 4G LTE services in all four telecom circles of the south: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. Earlier this month, the company unveiled services across three more circles – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab — expanding its 4G LTE services footprint to seven telecom service areas. “By March 2016, our services will extend to three more key markets namely, Maharashtra and Goa, North East and Orissa, and by June 2016, Idea’s 4G footprint will cover 750 cities across 10 telecom circles,” said Ambrish Jain, deputy managing director, Idea Cellular.
Idea Cellular holds 1800 MHz 4G spectrum in these 10 circles, which covers 50 per cent of the telecom market and contributes to over 60 per cent of gross revenue. Additionally, Idea has recently signed an agreement with Videocon Telecommunications Limited for acquiring ‘Right to Use’ 1800 MHz spectrum under ‘spectrum trading agreement’ in two of its key telecom leadership markets of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (west). Post completion of this transaction, 4G services will be extended to 12 service areas, covering 75 per cent of Idea’s revenue base in the country.
“Idea customers with 4G devices in these 183 towns can upgrade their existing SIM cards to new 4G SIM cards. The company is also offering attractive subscription plans to digital content,” Idea Cellular chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar said, adding Idea has also partnered leading handset manufacturers and e-commerce retailers for data bundling offers on new 4G smart phones.
Shares of Idea Cellular on BSE closed four per cent at Rs 104.75 in an almost flat Mumbai market on Thursday.
