Wireless ISP Tikona Digital Networks (TDN) has reiterated its intention to launch LTE-based broadband services in five circles, announcing plans to launch services in 30 cities in H1 2016, the Economic Times reports. In an interview with the news outlet, the operator’s chief marketing officer, Heramb Ranade explained that the five circles in which TDN has LTE spectrum – namely Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh East and Uttar Pradesh West – are underserved, with little in the way of competition to the incumbent Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL): ‘By and large we are the only alternative. Against their product, our product is very disruptive and yet giving [data plans] which are highly affordable.’ The official went on: ‘We will offer [data plans] at a price that is the fifth of current 3G prices so as to provide a satisfying user experience to multi-user, multi-device homes. We will maintain the pricing advantage on an ongoing basis.’ In terms of infrastructure, Mr Ranade added that Chinese vendor ZTE has been selected as TDN’s technology partner, and will supply the operator with end-to-end time division LTE (TD-LTE) equipment.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, TDN purchased 2300MHz spectrum in the 2010 auction and announced in 2012 that it would launch LTE services in mid-2013, although this deadline was later pushed back to end-2014, and has now been extended to H1 2016.