At a time when high-speed wireless broadband in India looks set to be disrupted by the emergence of Reliance Jio, it now seems that incumbent telco Idea Cellular would enhance its own advanced wireless broadband network soon. This would also incorporate 4G LTE services and would be applicable across 20 telecom circles in India; thereby representing a near PAN-India coverage.
As per a Reuters report, Idea Cellular's high-speed broadband wireless network would become fully operational as early as in 2017. The company also stated that it would aim to complete installation of as much as 1.41 lakh kilometres worth of optical fibre cables to offer high-speed broadband internet services.
Currently, Idea's broadband services are operational in select cities which are Ahmedabad, Pune, Kyderabad and Kochi.
At this point in time, it is worth noting that Reliance Jio is rumoured to introduce an exclusive fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) fibernet broadband service that is said to offer internet speeds amounting to as much as 1Gbps for use at home. Costs for this service are said to start from an affordable Rs 500 per month.
In related telco news, Vodafone India has come up with a free 2GB 4G data offer for 3G subscribers preferring to upgrade to the company's SuperNet 4G services in telecom circles viz. Mumbai, New Delhi (NCR), Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana. The free 2 GB LTE data is applicable to both prepaid as well as postpaid subscribers.
