Airtel to spend 60,000 cr on ‘Project Leap’ upgrade program to counter Reliance Jio

swatkats

swatkats

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  • With Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio set to launch 4G services shortly, Bharti Airtel has decided to invest ₹60,000 crore over the next three years on a network transformation programme called ‘Project Leap’. The company says the project will also help insulate its customers from ‘call drops’.
  • The amount will be over and above the ₹1.60 lakh crore it has already invested in its active and passive network, spectrum, fibre, submarine cables and systems till date, the company said. The investment will be largely met through cash accruals.
  • The company has set a 10-point programme under this project that includes deploying over 70,000 base stations this fiscal year, the most in a year since its inception.
  • It will also expand mobile broadband coverage to all towns and over 2.50 lakh villages by March 2016. In three years, it plans to offer mobile broadband to over five lakh villages in the country.
  • “By March 2016, over 60 per cent of Airtel’s network will also be mobile broadband enabled. In three years, it will deploy 1.60 lakh base stations, effectively doubling its presence from what it has today on the ground,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel (India and South Asia).
  • Telecom operators are ramping up their investments not just to improve the quality of service but also to be ready for Reliance Jio’s entry.
  • Vodafone, India’s second-largest telecommunications service provider by users, recently announced an investment of ₹13,000 crore. Idea Cellular has acquired Videocon’s spectrum in two circles for just over ₹3,300 crore.

Broadband focus:
In three years, Airtel plans to deploy over one lakh solutions through a combination of Wi-Fi hotspots, small cells and indoor solutions, Vittal said. As part of the programme, Airtel will also modernise its over three-million home broadband network.

By 2016, this will enable it to offer 50 Mbps speeds from 16 Mbps now.

  • In addition, Bharti plans to offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps through its fibre-to-home network.
  • Reliance Jio, which is expected to launch its commercial services by the end of the current calendar year, has galvanised incumbent operators as it is after more than a decade that they face serious competition from a player having deep pockets and a pan-India presence.
  • Vodafone India also recently announced fresh investment of Rs 13,000 crore for capacity augmentation and new business initiatives in India. Its investment will be used to set up a new data centre in the country and to expand its network to offer payments bank services.
  • The company will also upgrade its existing telecom infrastructure. Since Jio will be offering 4G services, incumbents like Bharti have already launched similar services across some 290 cities in the country.
  • Vodafone plans to launch the same by the end of next month and Idea Cellular in the first half of the next calendar. In fact, Idea has just acquired liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band from Videocon Telecommunications in two of its important circle — Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West) — to offer 4G services

Sources:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com...to-improve-network-quality/article7932934.ece
http://indianexpress.com/article/bu...pgrade-airtel-to-invest-rs-60k-cr-in-3-years/
 
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baccilus said:
Now we can expect faster and faster Internet and smaller and smaller FUP.
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Yeah. 50Mbps 100GB FUP, 1Mbps post FUP.. @ 2k per month. Be Happy, Typical Craptel.

Even for 10Mbps speed 100Gb data is mere nothing. We have got FULL HD Smart TV's, FULL HD Monitors, Laptops, Phones supporting FULL HD, Content size is growing day by day.
100Gb, 200Gb FUP will be history in next 2 years, Mark my words.
 
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swatkats said:
Yeah. 50Mbps 100GB FUP 2k per month. Be Happy, Typical Craptel.

Even for 10Mbps speed 100Gb data is mere nothing. We have got FULL HD Smart TV's, FULL HD Monitors, Laptops, Phones supporting FULL HD, Content size is growing day by day.
100Gb, 200Gb FUP will be history in next 2 years, Mark my words.
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I am actually paying 1445/m to BSNL for just 20GB of 2mbps internet. Airtel has stopped providing wireline Internet to most localities in my city (Panchkula).
They are just trying to promote 4G internet which have even worse plans.
 
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baccilus said:
I am actually paying 1445/m to BSNL for just 20GB of 2mbps internet. Airtel has stopped providing wireline Internet to most localities in my city (Panchkula).
They are just trying to promote 4G internet which have even worse plans.
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I don't get it. Are you suggesting that wireline internet that we get at our homes is being replaced by 4g internet?

They are completely different things. Wifi at home is much more cheaper and easily accessible than 4g.

Airtel would be stupid to consider such a thing as maximum internet usage is still through wifi.
4g cannot replace a home network.
 
Yes, that's what I am suggesting at least in and around my city. There are many localities where they were offering wireline broadband a few years ago. Now they are mostly providing 4G Internet in those areas. May be that is more lucrative for them.
 
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Cost per customer is like 11,000 for ADSL/FTTH. For cities like panchakula, Wireless seems to be a safe bet for companies.
 
Reliance Jio has NOT even launched but Airtel has already pissed in its pants? Just how scared are they. Lmao.
If everything goes right Consumers are gonna have the last laugh.
But I'm sad to say that none of these will affect the place where i live, the underdeveloped north east Indian states. NONE! These operators, whoever they are, always blame it on the "rough and mountainous" terrain which is a shame. BSNL also recently claimed that they invested some hundred crores for improving its services in the state but there is no visible achievement or improvement till now. Airtel 4G connection is also a joke. And don't even get me started on Modi's supposed development policies, digital india etc here. No wonder the people of this region feel alienated. Even worse no real proper steps have been taken to improve the conditions.
PS: India's Tourism "Incredible North East" ads can kiss my butt!
 
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iPwnz said:
Reliance Jio has NOT even launched but Airtel has already pissed in its pants? Just how scared are they. Lmao.
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Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal says Reliance Jio will shake telecom in India

“Whatever Reliance does, it does on a scale that is always big and impactful,” Mittal said on Sunday in the coastal Turkish city of Antalya. “That is exactly what Reliance is planning to do in the telecommunication sector. From what we hear the launch will be imminent in the coming 30, 60, 90 days. India has 10, 11 operators. We should have about four or five at the very most.”
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http://www.livemint.com/Companies/r...l-Mittal-says-Reliance-Jio-will-shake-te.html
 
Can't open livemint on my phone but did he really said that? Oh wow. They were not willing to do a thing but mass promo and now they are suddenly interested in expanding services just when Reliance Jio is about to launch? I don't know what to say lol. I guess they really are afraid to lose the market afterall huh.
Btw Airtel giving free 30rs talktime to users in the flood affected areas in Chennai.
And is there no news about Idea services? I'm using Idea at the moment. They presently give the best network overall here in my state. Vodafone is average, Airtel has serious network connectivity, Aircel which once used to be the best is now almost non-existent lol. Also got state BSNL but like i mentioned in my earlier post network is crappy. Its "cheap" 3G plan is a joke. Idea is superior.
A fun fact: Reliance claim that they have broadband services here and one day my brother went to one of their services to enquire about it they told him that even they (Reliance office) also use Bsnl broadband. :p
 
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iPwnz said:
But I'm sad to say that none of these will affect the place where i live, the underdeveloped north east Indian states. NONE! These operators, whoever they are, always blame it on the "rough and mountainous" terrain which is a shame. BSNL also recently claimed that they invested some hundred crores for improving its services in the state but there is no visible achievement or improvement till now. Airtel 4G connection is also a joke. And don't even get me started on Modi's supposed development policies, digital india etc here. No wonder the people of this region feel alienated. Even worse no real proper steps have been taken to improve the conditions.
PS: India's Tourism "Incredible North East" ads can kiss my butt!
Click to expand...

I say you write you the PM and the telecom minister and tell them what you wrote here(without bull **) . And also put in a complaint in the government grievance cell. They are pretty prompt in replying and acting on the grievance complaints in the grievance cell.
 
baccilus said:
I say you write you the PM and the telecom minister and tell them what you wrote here(without bull **) . And also put in a complaint in the government grievance cell. They are pretty prompt in replying and acting on the grievance complaints in the grievance cell.
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They are not bs dude, just ground reality. The rest of India just don't know it because no national media pays enough attention to these regions.
Honestly I do not know how to contact the PM or his staff nor do I think that contacting the "grievance" cell will help because more important issues (at least more important than "digitalization" in the state) have been sent out to the PM but not much has been done about them. At best they will redirect me to the DONER or some other org who will just throw away my plea. Life in these regions is harder than one would imagine. I wish that there was a way of improving the conditions here without joining politics.
 
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I meant don't use the word bull shit. Writing to them is 1000 times better than just ranting.
The grievance cell has a Web based complaint management system. I often use it when normal complaints fail. I have even used it for roads and BSNL connection issues.
 
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baccilus said:
I meant don't use the word bull shit. Writing to them is 1000 times better than just ranting.
The grievance cell has a Web based complaint management system. I often use it when normal complaints fail. I have even used it for roads and BSNL connection issues.
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oh lol my bad. I misunderstood. :p
Did you complaints help? and were there any other issues involved like the police etc? Police are annoying you know.
I actually wanted to sent a letter to the editor of a state newspaper. Not sure if its gonna get published though.
 
Yes it has always helped. What happens is that the grievance is forwarded by the PM's office to the relevant office and they have to act on it in a time bound manner. I am pretty sure a letter to the editor won't help much. I will post the url of the grievance cell or you may search for it.
Here is the grievance cell address:
http://pgportal.gov.in/
It is much easier to file a complaint than you might think.
 
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baccilus said:
Yes it has always helped. What happens is that the grievance is forwarded by the PM's office to the relevant office and they have to act on it in a time bound manner. I am pretty sure a letter to the editor won't help much. I will post the url of the grievance cell or you may search for it.
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Great. Thanks. i'm going to prepare a long mail for them. :rage:
 
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There was a concentrated attempt done at ril 4g towers construction with news spreading that the radiation of 4g towers are harmful to the kids. Saw that in local news, many mass protests happening only to oppose reliance 4g towers. Not sure about the veracity of the harmful effects though but I smelled it was fishy since airtel had done it already without much opposition.
I guess that might have affected their rollout timelines.
 
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