Tikona Digital to launch 4G services at 2-5 paise per MB

[Xen]

Mumbai-based Tikona Digital plans to launch fourth generation or 4G services in the second half of 2013 at 2 paise to 5 paise per MB in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (east and west) and Himachal Pradesh, where it secured mobile broadband airwaves for Rs 1,058 crore in 2010.

"These tariffs will disrupt the market. We will be able to do this since we're already offering data plans at a price point of 2-5 paise per MB for broadband on Wi-Fi which gives speeds of up to 10 Mbps," said the company's chief executive Prakash Bajpai.

Consumers will be able to download data and surf the internet on the 4G platform at a much faster speeds than what 3G operators can offer. 4G services offer six to 10 times faster internet download speeds when compared to 3G.

Experts say 4G operators have no option but to offer highly competitive price points.


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[Xen]

Tikona to launch 4G service in mid-2013, starting Ahmedabad

Tikona Wireless plans to roll-out services by mid-2013 starting from Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat and will ramp up to 10 cities in these circles in the first phase. Tikona has won 4G spectrum in five circles that includes Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP-East, UP-West and Himachal Pradesh.

Heramb Ranade, chief marketing officer of Tikona said to The Mobile Indian, "We plan to launch our services in 2013 with first circle being Gujarat, where major cities will get it first. We will follow that with 10 cities across five circles that we have spectrum in."

He also added, "We expect the price of per MB to be between 10 to 25 paisa and because there is paucity of affordable LTE devices right we will initially focus on offering home broadband solutions and data cards."

Tikona will roll-out 4G services using the TDD LTE technology which currently being used by Airtel to offer services in Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune. The same technology will be used Reliance Industries Limited as well.

About the content strategy, Ranade said, "We don't see any need to get into content side as that is being taken care by a separate industry altogether and no operator can match that in terms of scale or variety. We see ourselves as a data pipeline provider and will focus on that only."

All the 4G service providers have the obligation to cover 100 per cent of the urban areas and 50 per cent of the rural areas in their respective circles by 2015.


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