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Airtel launched 4G services on mobile from February 2014. The first city to get the service was Bangalore.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/telecom/Airtel-launches-4G-on-mobiles-at-same-price-as-3G/articleshow/30382502.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Airtel launches 4G on mobiles at same price as 3G – The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/bharti-airtel-offers-4g-services-on-mobiles-in-bangalore/articleshow/30362058.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Bharti Airtel offers 4G services on mobiles in Bangalore | date=14 February 2014}}</ref> Airtel has started their 4G services in [[Karnal]] and [[Yamunanagar]] in Haryana on 16 June 2015.<ref name="Airtel 4G in Haryana">[http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-launched-in-karnal-and-yamunanagar-011830/ Airtel 4G launch in Karnal and Yamunanagar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617124932/http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-launched-in-karnal-and-yamunanagar-011830/ |date=17 June 2015 }}, ''News Exprezz'', 16 June 2015.</ref> Airtel 4G trials has been started in Delhi from 18 June 2015.<ref name="Airtel 4G">[http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-in-delhi-launch-on-18th-june-011804/ Airtel 4G launch in Delhi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617123426/http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-in-delhi-launch-on-18th-june-011804/ |date=17 June 2015 }}, ''News Exprezz'', 16 June 2015.</ref> Airtel had 7,70,68000 4G subscribers as of december 2018.<ref name="Airtel 4G in Haryana"/>
Airtel launched 4G services on mobile from February 2014. The first city to get the service was Bangalore.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/telecom/Airtel-launches-4G-on-mobiles-at-same-price-as-3G/articleshow/30382502.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Airtel launches 4G on mobiles at same price as 3G – The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/bharti-airtel-offers-4g-services-on-mobiles-in-bangalore/articleshow/30362058.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Bharti Airtel offers 4G services on mobiles in Bangalore | date=14 February 2014}}</ref> Airtel has started their 4G services in [[Karnal]] and [[Yamunanagar]] in Haryana on 16 June 2015.<ref name="Airtel 4G in Haryana">[http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-launched-in-karnal-and-yamunanagar-011830/ Airtel 4G launch in Karnal and Yamunanagar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617124932/http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-launched-in-karnal-and-yamunanagar-011830/ |date=17 June 2015 }}, ''News Exprezz'', 16 June 2015.</ref> Airtel 4G trials has been started in Delhi from 18 June 2015.<ref name="Airtel 4G">[http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-in-delhi-launch-on-18th-june-011804/ Airtel 4G launch in Delhi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617123426/http://www.newsexprezz.com/airtel-4g-in-delhi-launch-on-18th-june-011804/ |date=17 June 2015 }}, ''News Exprezz'', 16 June 2015.</ref> Airtel had 7,70,68000 4G subscribers as of december 2018.<ref name="Airtel 4G in Haryana"/>


As of March 2016, Airtel provides 4G coverage in 350 cities in 15 circles.<ref>http://www.airtel.in/4g/</ref> Airtel extended its 4G network to 15&nbsp;km off India's coastline, following a request by the [[Indian Navy]].<ref>http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/4g-lte-how-reliance-jio-airtel-vodafone-idea-cellular-aircel-stack-up/51357478</ref> Airtel started its 4G in [[andaman and nicobar]] on 15 January 2019.<ref>https://www.airtel.in/press-release/01-2019/airtel-puts-andaman-and-nicobar-on-the-digital-superhighway-becomes-the-first-operator-to-launch-4G-services-in-the-islands</ref> Airtel covered 96% population in [[rajasthan]] till march 2019.
As of March 2016, Airtel provides 4G coverage in 350 cities in 15 circles.<ref>http://www.airtel.in/4g/</ref> Airtel extended its 4G network to 15&nbsp;km off India's coastline, following a request by the [[Indian Navy]].<ref>http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/4g-lte-how-reliance-jio-airtel-vodafone-idea-cellular-aircel-stack-up/51357478</ref> Airtel started its 4G in [[andaman and nicobar]] on 15 January 2019.<ref>https://www.airtel.in/press-release/01-2019/airtel-puts-andaman-and-nicobar-on-the-digital-superhighway-becomes-the-first-operator-to-launch-4G-services-in-the-islands</ref> Airtel covered 96% population in [[rajasthan]] till march 2019.<ref>https://www.airtel.in/press-release/03-2019/airtel-4g-now-covers-297-towns-and-35674-villages-across-rajasthan</ref> Airtel’s network now covers approximately 98% of the population in these geographies.<ref>https://www.airtel.in/press-release/02-2019/airtel-4g-now-covers-427-towns-and-85336-villages-across-bihar-and-Jharkhand</ref>


====VoLTE====
====VoLTE====

Revision as of 16:36, 22 March 2019

This article is about the mobile network operator in India. For Bharti Enterprises telecommunication brand, see Bharti Airtel.

Airtel India
Company typePublic
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedJuly 7, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-07-07)[1]
FounderSunil Bharti Mittal
HeadquartersBharti Crescent, 1, Nelson Mandela Road, New Delhi, India[1]
Area served
India
Key people
Sunil Bharti Mittal (Chairman and MD)
ProductsFixed line and mobile telephony, broadband and fixed-line internet services, digital television and IPTV
Members340.36 million[2]
(January 2019)
ParentBharti Airtel
Websitewww.airtel.in

Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and also second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers.[3][4] Bharti Airtel Limited is part of Bharti Enterprises and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification.[5] It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, with a connection to Singapore. As of 31 December 2018, Airtel has 340.259 million subscribers with a market share of 28.93% in India.[2][6][7] Airtel was named India's second most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc.[8][9]

Mobile services

Airtel operates in all telecom circles of India. Airtel is the largest operator in rural India, with 149.29 million subscribers as of 31 January 2018.

3G

On 18 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel paid the Government of India ₹122.95 billion (US$1.5 billion) for spectrum in 13 circles, the most amount spent by an operator in that auction. Airtel won 3G licences in 13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, and Jammu & Kashmir.[10] Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharashtra & Goa and Kolkata circles through an agreement with Vodafone and in Gujarat and Punjab through an agreement with Idea. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in all 22 out of 22 circles in India. Airtel is fined by DoT 3.50 billion for not stopping offering 3G Services through Roaming Pacts outside its Licensed Zones in Seven Circles.

On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it had given contracts to Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies to set up infrastructure for providing 3G services in the country. These vendors would plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G–HSPA (third-generation, high-speed packet access) networks in 13 telecom circles where the company had won 3G licences. While Airtel awarded network contracts for seven 3G circles to Ericsson India, NSN would manage networks in three circles. Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies was introduced as the third partner for three circles.[11]

Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore on 24 January 2011.[12] On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On 27 July 2011, 3G services were launched in Kerala's 3 largest cities – Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.[13]

Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through intra-circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million are 3G data customers as of September 2012. Airtel has 3G licence in all 22 circles.[14]

In October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced its acquisition of Tata DoCoMo having roughly 40 million subscribers.[15]

4G

On 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G spectrum auction in India ended. Airtel paid ₹33.1436 billion (US$400 million) for spectrum in 4 circles: Maharashtra and Goa, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata.[16] The company was allocated 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 GHz frequency band. Airtel's TD-LTE network is built and operated by ZTE in Kolkata and Punjab, Huawei in Karnataka, and Nokia Siemens Networks in Maharashtra and Goa.[17] On 10 April 2012, Airtel launched 4G services through dongles and modems using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the first company in India to offer 4G services. The Kolkata launch was followed by launches in Bangalore (7 May 2012),[18] Pune (18 October 2012),[19] and Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula (25 March 2013).[20] Airtel obtained 4G licences and spectrum in the telecom circles of Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai after acquiring Wireless Business Services Private Limited, a joint venture founded by Qualcomm, which had won BWA spectrum in those circles in the 4G spectrum auction.[21]

Airtel launched 4G services on mobile from February 2014. The first city to get the service was Bangalore.[22][23] Airtel has started their 4G services in Karnal and Yamunanagar in Haryana on 16 June 2015.[24] Airtel 4G trials has been started in Delhi from 18 June 2015.[25] Airtel had 7,70,68000 4G subscribers as of december 2018.[24]

As of March 2016, Airtel provides 4G coverage in 350 cities in 15 circles.[26] Airtel extended its 4G network to 15 km off India's coastline, following a request by the Indian Navy.[27] Airtel started its 4G in andaman and nicobar on 15 January 2019.[28] Airtel covered 96% population in rajasthan till march 2019.[29] Airtel’s network now covers approximately 98% of the population in these geographies.[30]

VoLTE

On 3 November 2016, The Economic Times reported that Airtel had awarded a ₹402 crore (US$60 million) contract to Nokia to implement Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) technology on the operator's network nationwide. Airtel had previously awarded a smaller contract to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles in early 2016. Airtel subscribers will be able to place VoLTE calls in areas covered by LTE. If LTE is not available in the area, the call will fall back to 3G or 2G.[31] Airtel is expected to launch VoLTE services in early 2017. Airtel was to completely launch its VoLTE services in India till the end of December 2018.

Network

Radio frequency summary

Airtel India owns spectrum in 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands across the country.[32]

Telecom circle coverage FD-LTE
850MHz
Band 5 		E-GSM / FD-LTE
900MHz
Band 8 		GSM / FD-LTE
1800MHz
Band 3 		UMTS / FD-LTE
2100MHz
Band 1 		TD-LTE
2300MHz
Band 40
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Assam No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bihar & Jharkhand No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Delhi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Uttar Pradesh (East) No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gujarat No No Yes Yes Yes
Haryana Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Himachal Pradesh No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Jammu and Kashmir No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Karnataka No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kerala No No Yes Yes Yes
Kolkata No Yes Yes No Yes
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh No No Yes Yes Yes
Maharashtra & Goa Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Mumbai Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
North East No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Odisha No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Punjab No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rajasthan No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tamil Nadu No Yes Yes Yes Yes
West Bengal No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Uttar Pradesh (West) No No Yes Yes Yes

Project Leap

On 30 November 2015, Airtel announced the launch of a network transformation programme called Project Leap. Under the programme, the company will invest ₹60,000 crores over the next 3 years to upgrade its network across India. Airtel will deploy over 160,000 base stations nationwide, and also expand its mobile broadband coverage to over 500,000 villages. Under Project Leap, Airtel will introduce several technologies such as small cells, carrier aggregation solutions, WiFi hotspots, and several different spectrum bands to improve network coverage in indoor areas. The company will also deploy more than 5,50,000 km of domestic and international fiber, and upgrade its legacy networks and base stations over the three-year period.

Airtel Broadband will also benefit from Project Leap. The ISP's maximum offered speed will rise from 16 Mbit/s in 2016 to 50 Mbit/s when after the programme is implemented.[33]

On 14 June 2016, Airtel launched the Open Network initiative under Project Leap. The Open Network service allows users to view Airtel's mobile network coverage and signal strength across India, in addition to network site deployment status. This was first launched on a trial basis in December 2015, before its official launch in June 2016.[34]

In February 2016, Airtel deployed LTE Advanced carrier aggregation technology in Kerala. Carrier aggregation combines the capacities of TD-LTE (2300 MHz spectrum band) and FD-LTE (1800) enabling better spectrum utilization and efficiency. The network achieved data speeds of up to 135 Mbit/s.[35]

Airtel Money

Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in collaboration with Infosys and SmartTrust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone. It has an all-India presence.[36] Certain charges are levied per Airtel Money transaction.[37]

iPhone

The iPhone 3G was rolled out in India in 2008 by Airtel. However, high prices and contract bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as successful as the iPhone is in other markets of the world. Airtel introduced the iPhone 4 on 27 May 2011 and the iPhone 5 on 2 November 2012.[38]

Subscriber base

The Airtel wireless subscriber base according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as of 31st December 2018 Airtel has 340.259 million wireless subscribers in India with 28.93% market share.[2] In 2016 version of The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory, Airtel is placed as the most trusted mobile operator brand in India [39]

Airtel Broadband

V-Fiber

Airtel launched its V-Fiber service in October 2016. V-Fiber combines fiber technology and vectorization to deliver data speeds up to 300 Mbit/s through existing infrastructure.[40]

IPTV

Airtel Broadband launched its IPtV service in 2009. On 31 August 2016, the company shut down the service, and offered its 50,000 subscribers a free upgrade to Airtel Digital TV. The company stated that the move was part of its strategy to focus on a single television service.[41]

Net Neutrality Debate

Further information: Net neutrality in India

In April 2015, Airtel launched a marketing platform called Airtel Zero, which allows application providers to pay for the data used by the consumers, enabling consumers to access specific mobile apps at zero data cost.[42] Flipkart, a leading Indian e-commerce firm reportedly was to become the launch partner of "Airtel Zero". The issue triggered debate on net neutrality in India[43] and following protests Flipkart pulled out of Airtel Zero.[44][45][46]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Fact Sheet". Airtel.
  2. ^ a b c "Press Release on Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st January, 2019" (PDF). www.trai.gov.in. 21 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Bharti Hexacom Limited: Private Company Information". Bloomberg.
  4. ^ "Profile: Bharti Infratel Ltd (BHRI.NS)". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  5. ^ Agencies (22 August 2010). "Bharti Airtel gets Gold Certification". Express India. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Reporter, B. S. (13 September 2016). "Top three telcos have 61% market share". Business Standard India. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Press Release on Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st August, 2016" (PDF).
  8. ^ "HDFC Bank named India's most valuable brand in BrandZ ranking".
  9. ^ "India's top 10 brands". business.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Pahwa, Nikhil. "Medianama.com". Medianama.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Ericsson, NSN and Huawei to build 3G networks for Airtel – The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  12. ^ "Airtel launches 3G in Karnataka". The Times of India. India. 24 January 2011. Archived from the original on 28 January 2011.
  13. ^ "On 21 November 2018, Bharti Airtel Limited global telecommunications service provider company from India". Latesttechnology.online. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Quarterly Report Q2 2012" (PDF). Airtel.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  15. ^ "Bharti Airtel acquires Tata's mobile arm". The Hindu. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  16. ^ http://www.medianama.com/2010/06/223-indias-broadband-wireless-auction-ends-operator-circlewise-results/
  17. ^ http://telecomtalk.info/4g-india-3gs-way-in-depth-analysis/93871/#more-93871
  18. ^ "Airtel 4G Services Launched in Bangalore". Telecomtalk.info. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  19. ^ "Airtel 4G LTE Services Launched in Pune". Telecomtalk.info. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  20. ^ Biswas, Rudradeep (20 March 2013). "Exclusive: Airtel to Launch 4G/LTE-TD Services in Chandigarh Today". Telecomtalk.info. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  21. ^ "Bharti buys 49 per cent in Qualcomm BWA unit for $165 million". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Airtel launches 4G on mobiles at same price as 3G – The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  23. ^ "Bharti Airtel offers 4G services on mobiles in Bangalore". The Times Of India. 14 February 2014.
  24. ^ a b Airtel 4G launch in Karnal and Yamunanagar Archived 17 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, News Exprezz, 16 June 2015.
  25. ^ Airtel 4G launch in Delhi Archived 17 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, News Exprezz, 16 June 2015.
  26. ^ http://www.airtel.in/4g/
  27. ^ http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/4g-lte-how-reliance-jio-airtel-vodafone-idea-cellular-aircel-stack-up/51357478
  28. ^ https://www.airtel.in/press-release/01-2019/airtel-puts-andaman-and-nicobar-on-the-digital-superhighway-becomes-the-first-operator-to-launch-4G-services-in-the-islands
  29. ^ https://www.airtel.in/press-release/03-2019/airtel-4g-now-covers-297-towns-and-35674-villages-across-rajasthan
  30. ^ https://www.airtel.in/press-release/02-2019/airtel-4g-now-covers-427-towns-and-85336-villages-across-bihar-and-Jharkhand
  31. ^ "Airtel signs Rs 402-crore deal with Nokia on VoLTE calling tech - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  32. ^ Pan India 2016 spectrum holding data sheet (updated), Telecom Talk, retrieved 16 February 2019
  33. ^ "Airtel to invest Rs 60,000 crore in 'Project Leap'". The Hindu. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  34. ^ http://gadgets.ndtv.com/telecom/news/airtels-open-network-launched-on-app-to-show-coverage-quality-across-india-849280
  35. ^ http://telecomtalk.info/airtel-4g-data-speeds-up-to-13mbps-in-bengaluru/156953/
  36. ^ "airtel mcommerce-mobile money bill payments and recharge". Airtel.in. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ http://moneysaverindia.com/finance/ignore-both-airtel-money-and-m-pesa/
  38. ^ "Airtel begins pre-orders of 16GB iPhone 5 in India for Rs. 45,500 | NDTV Gadgets". Gadgets.ndtv.com. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  39. ^ http://www.trustadvisory.info/Categories/All%20India%20BTR2016.pdf
  40. ^ "Bharti Airtel to Deliver V-Fiber Broadband Services in 10 More Cities". Telecom Talk. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  41. ^ "Airtel to shut down IPTv service from 31st August, offers free migration to DTH platform". Telecomtalk.info. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  42. ^ "Airtel launches 'Airtel Zero'". archive.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) Archived from Bharti Airtel News Archived 15 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ^ Mishra, Lalatendu (15 April 2015). "Net neutrality debate rages". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  44. ^ Mahim Prathap Singh; Pradeesh Chandran (14 April 2015). "Following consumer backlash, Flipkart pulls out of Airtel Zero". The Hindu. New Delhi. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  45. ^ "Flipkart mobile app bears the brunt of the company's reported plans to join 'Airtel Zero'". BGR India. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  46. ^ "Consumers downvote Flipkart app after net neutrality controversy". India Today. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
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