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Bharti Airtel, on Thursday, said it has its first fourth generation (4G) network in Africa at Seychelles in partnership with Swedish equipment vendor Ericsson.
In a statement, Airtel said that the infrastructure was a new, nationwide long-term evolution (LTE) network on 800MHz spectrum band. The network is expected to cover 10,000 LTE subscribers in the first phase, and will greatly enhance connectivity giving Airtel's customers an improved smartphone experience, with faster web browsing, downloads and improved quality of service, it stated.
"The deployment of the next generation mobile network across the Seychelles will enable an enhanced mobile experience and reliable services; and will facilitate new and exciting opportunities for businesses, the society and the people in the country," Danny Fure, Vice President, Government of Seychelles, said.
Besides rich content, Airtel's 4G will allow superfast access to high definition (HD) video streaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos, said Airtel Seychelles MD Amadou Mahamat Dina.
The agreement between Ericsson and Airtel includes equipment, software and support services, as well as incorporating multi-standard radio base station equipment and upgrading existing 2G and 3G access network software.
As the first company, Bharti Airtel has also rolled out 4G services in India in April 2012. The service is available across 15 Indian cities - Bangalore, Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, Nagpur, Patiala, Pune and Nasik.
