Videocon Telecom has confirmed plans to launch 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services in key cities in Uttar Pradesh (East and West) and Bihar within the next six to eight months, the Business Standard writes. Videocon’s CEO Arvind Bali was quoted as saying that the company has the necessary infrastructure in place in the three circles, but is waiting for the ecosystem to mature before it begins offering the service: ‘Handsets which support this band, or any LTE band for that matter, are expensive currently and also not widely available. So we are waiting for the right kind of ecosystem to roll out the services.’
As previously reported by CommsUpdate, Videocon announced in February this year that it was spending INR12 billion (USD192.6 million) on 4G over the next three years, with the cellco set to deploy Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) LTE using the 1800MHz band in 29 cities across Uttar Pradesh (East and West) and Bihar. Videocon claims it will be the first operator in India to use the 1800MHz band for FDD-LTE, although its decision to delay activating the network may see it pipped to the post by newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL).