Airtel likely to launch 4G in Northeast in 2-3 months

The company had started the testing about two months back

Telecom giant Airtel will roll out fourth generation (4G) services in Northeast, excluding Assam, within next 2-3 months, testing of which is currently going on.

"We are at present testing the 4G signals in the North East. However, this exercise excludes Assam as we got the necessary 4G spectrum for the state only in latest auction and it will take some time to roll out the services," Bharti Airtel Chief Executive Officer, Northeastern States and Assam (NESA) operations, Saurabh Goel told PTI.

The company started the testing about two months back and is emphasising on this entire process so that customers do not face any issue once the facility is introduced, he added.

Goel declined to share the timeline, but said It would be introduced very soon in the six states.

We have already put up hoardings in Shillong and other places in the region.

Industry sources, however, said Airtel was gearing up to roll out the 4G services commercially in Northeast within next two-three months.

The company's NESA operations, which clocked a revenue of Rs 2,000 crore in 2014-15, has a customer base of 90 lakh and enjoys 40 per cent market share in the region.

"In the last financial year, we grew by 14 per cent. It was a little setback for us as the coal mining industry in Meghalaya was closed, affecting our growth. But this year, we are buoyant on Meghalaya along with Tripura. We are extremely focused on Arunachal Pradesh also," Goel said.

He, however, declined to share growth expectations or customer base target for the current financial year.

On growth areas, Goel said the company had "big plans" for the youth, who were entering colleges this year and would roll out special combo offers for voice and internet usage.

"The other two focus areas... North East are corporates and migrant workers, especially from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as our brand is very strong there," he added.