airtel makes its 3G debut

BENGALURU, INDIA: Bharti airtel, India’s largest telecom company, announced the launch of its 3G service in India – bringing the airtel internet experience on 3G first to Karnataka – its largest circle by revenue market share.

airtel is targeting to launch in all 13 3G license circles by March 2011. airtel introduces easy-to-understand intuitive 3G tariffs with personalised data usage limits.

airtel 3G customers will be empowered to manage their 3G data usage alert and prevent ‘bill shock’ with proactive, personalized and timely data usage alerts.

Announcing this, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO - Bharti airtel Ltd (India & South Asia) said: “It is indeed the start of a new era when 3G services in India roll out on airtel's network. World over ‘Data traffic’ on the back of high speed internet and use of social networking has already exceeded the ‘Voice traffic’.

"India is ushering in the domain – though later than most of the world - but no doubt we will catch up at a much faster speed. 3G is much more than a technology migration - it is a transformational shift - and airtel's focus would be to bring to its customers an enriched user experience on the back of a world class delivery network. I welcome all 745 million mobile customers of the country to be a part of this journey with airtel!"

airtel’s 3G services, delivered on a state-of-the-art high speed HSPA network, usher in a new era of unique life enriching services in entertainment, utility, commerce and health – all now on the customer’s mobile phone. The airtel internet on 3G gives customers the power of higher speeds to enjoy multimedia services, high speed mobile broadband and internet access with the ability to view videos on your mobile phone, make video calls, watch live TV, access high speed internet and enjoy live streaming at never before speeds.

The launch of its 3G services is a key milestone in Bharti airtel’s vision to play a leading role in delivering the power of the mobile internet to an increasing number of people in India. With the mobile industry across the world expecting to connect 2.4 billion people to the internet over the next five years, most for the first time, it is incumbent upon service providers to bring all the ecosystem players together in a cohesive manner – handset manufacturers, equipment vendors, application developers and even consumers – to scale up the penetration for 3G services in the country.

Keeping the focus on the user experience and relevant services, airtel’s 3G plans are personalised and simple to understand:

. Time-based plans for light users of data – where usage and billing will be by hour.
. Flexi-shield plans for heavy users of data – where usage and billing will be capped.