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

[iPwnz]

"Shortly", I wonder how shortly is enough for Reliance. While I don't believe in half baked rollout, they have been on verge for a long time now.

I think they are meticulously planning their services. If they really wanted to get EZ $$ they would've launched it long ago. That's my guess. We can only hope that whatever they are doing, they will not let us down.
What about Vodafone? Are they not interested in 4G or what?

 

[baccilus]

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.

Well these kind of misinformation tactics are routinely spread by vested interests. The best that can be done is to share correct information regarding these issues and hope that people will read them. The research so far suggests that there is no carcinogenic effect of radio waves, but a lot of people do argue that mobile phone technology is too new to be sure about that because it may take decades to be sure.

 

[vyral_143]

What about Vodafone? Are they not interested in 4G or what?

They can not even handle their 3G network properly, I found Airtel it "little" better at it. With Vodafone, if government had asked for ₹1/call drop without any limits in a day, I would have been millionaire by now. Basic issue I feel is adding of consumers without proper backbone of network infra. I was in Hongkong last month on network of operator names "3". I was able to get constant 3G and H+ network in underground metros. But here in Mumbai, even if local trains departs station and reach speed of 10Km/Hr, network gets cut. Flip side of this is, it creates havoc on battery life of smartphones. There was clear difference of more than couple of hours usage time on my 5S when I used it in Hongkong and I am using it in Mumbai. I would reiterate that I am ready to pay double of charges what I am paying now but quality of network must be with minimal hiccups. Let Reliance JIO make slow roll-out but if network is steady enough, I am definitely making a move.

 

[swatkats]

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.

I found a sense making person on TE forums after years. Rest of them (whining people) are chillar.

 

[swatkats]

From what i understand, Airtel has the infrastructure to compete with Jio at this point of time and for the next 2-3 years. They have been in the process of upgrading infrastructure through out India since the launch of 4G in Bangalore back in April'12.

Reliance Jio soft launch seems to be happen on 28th December on the occasion of Ambani's birthday. That is for sure.
Regular availability would be from March or even may .http://rtn.asia/n-m/16024/reliance-...ices-this-month-broad-availability-next-month

 

[swatkats]

Airtel signs Rs 420-crore deal with Nokia on VoLTE calling tech

• Bharti Airtel has awarded a $60 million (Rs 402 crore) pan-India deal to Finnish gear maker Nokia to implement voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) calling technology which may be launched within this year, people familiar with the matter said.
• Hit by competition from Reliance Jio, rivals Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular are exploring the possibility of making voice calls ‘totally free’ under their upcoming VoLTE service, according to industry sources.
• Airtel will use VoLTE as a complimentary service to its existing voice offering. In case VoLTE is not available in an area, Airtel users would be able to fall back within the network to lower technologies, which are 2G and 3G, industry watchers say.
• It is expected that Airtel’s VoLTE service will be ready in December or January, followed by Vodafone and Idea within weeks or days.

“Airtel was piloting the technology in a few areas and after successful testing, is now looking at a bigger launch by giving a pan-India contract for IMS (IP multimedia system) solution to Nokia,” one of these people said.

Read more at http://rtn.asia/t-t/24752/following...-make-4g-volte-calls-free#iu3bRDB1hdzTlJyy.99 | http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...lling-tech/articleshow/55192001.cms?prtpage=1