Vodafone Essar switched on a commercial service in East Uttar Pradesh, which is one of the largest service areas in India. Even before this, the company launched limited 3G services in Chennai and Delhi, but this week’s announcement counts as its first fully commercial launch.
The new service will launch in the cities of Lucknow and Kanpur in the first phase and will be extended to Allahabad and Varanasi next month. Later on, the plan is to cover all remaining towns and centres in the region.
It’s important to note that Vodafone is not the only operator offering 3G services in East Uttar Pradesh with BSNL and Aircel already doing so. However, the Big Red is the largest player in the region with around 13 million subscribers, all of which will be able to access the new network for no additional cost.
“We have the largest EDGE enabled cell sites in the circle numbering 8,200 and we only need to put 3G antennae and some additional gadgets for 3G,” Vodafone’s circle COO Ravi Santhanam told reporters.
In addition to 3G-enabled mobile phones, Vodafone will also offer HSPA dongles and Novatel’s MiFi Personal Hotspot device…
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]