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Weallknowthattheyear2016willbetheyearof HYPERLINK"category/4G/"LTEinIndia.ApartfromAirtel,whostarted4Gservicesbackin2012, we willseeseveralplayerstojumpingontothe 4Gservicesbandwagon inIndiathisyear.IdeaandVodafonehavealreadylaunchedtheir4Gservicesinselectedmarkets.Jio,thetelecomarmofRelianceIndustries,willlaunchitscommercialservice anytimesoon.IdeaCellular:Let’sstartwithIdeaCellular by discussingits3Gaswellas 4Gspectrum.Ideawonspectrumin11circlesin2010,andthoseairwaveswere usedfor3Gservices.In2015auction,Ideagrabbedachunkof5MHzspectrumonbandinKolkataand900MHzspectruminDelhi.InDelhi,IdealaunchedUMTS900.3Gservicesover900MHzband(similartoAirtel’sPlatinum3G). ItshouldbenotedthatIdeaCellularhasalmostpan-India3GpresenceviaICRAroutethrough AirtelandVodafone’s3Gnetworks.Idea3GMapIdea3GMapInpast twoyears,Ideakeptdefendingitselfbysaying thatIndia’stelecommarketisn’treadyfor4G/LTEservices.However,sensingthethreatfromRelianceJio’sentryinto4Gturf,Ideastartedrollingout4Gservicesinselectedcirclesusingit’stechnology-neutralband.InNovember2015,Ideaacquiredspectrumintwomorecircles(GujaratandUttarPradesh-West)fromVideocon.Rightnow,IdeaiscapableofrollingoutLTE-FDDon1800MHzbandinatotalof12circles. ItshouldbenotedthatIdeadidnotwinanyofbandintheyear2010.Idea4GLTEliberalisedSpectrumdetailsIdea4GLTEliberalisedSpectrumdetailsInthreecircles– HimachalPradesh,UttarPradesh(East),andMumbai–Ideahaslessthan5MHzofspectrum,whichcanbeusedfor Narrow-BandLTE deployment,butNB-LTEdoesn’tmakesenseinMumbaiduetolargepopulation.Fromthechartabove,it’sclearthatIdeahassomecircleswithmorethan5MHzspectrumwhich were wonin2012.However, thereis lackof transparency if thisspectrumistech-neutralor not.So, Ideahasstayedawayfrom rollingout4Ginthesecircles(Kolkata,WestBengal,Jammu&Kashmir,andAssam). Otherwise,Ideacan serve 16circleswithLTE-FDD. Worldwide narrow-bandLTE isgettingimportanceasitcanbedeployedwithjust200MHzchunkofairspace.Expertsbelievethat NB-LTEcanbeagamechangerforIoT(InternetofThings).However,LTE-NBisnotsuitableenoughforgeneraldataservices inIndia. Idea4GLTEMapIdea4GLTEMapVodafoneIndiaVodafoneIndiahasalwaysbeencautiousabouttheamountofmoneybeingspentonuselessstuffandtheyinvestmoneyinaveryplannedmanner.In2010,Vodafoneinvestedfor3Gspectrumonlyin9circlesandoptedforIntra-CircleRoamingAgreement(ICRA)togopan-Indiathrough IdeaandAirtel’snetworks.In2015,Vodafoneinvestedinfivemore circlestoacquire3Gspectrum.It didnotreceive anyspectrumin2010 on the 2300MHzband.However,theywontechnology-neutralspectrumover the 1800MHzband,whichsupportsLTE-FDD.Withthis,Vodafonewillbeengagedintothewaragainst HYPERLINK"category/reliance-jio-2/"RelianceJio.Vodafoneseemstobeseeing4GasabusinesscaseinIndia,andhencetheyareintalkswithTikonatobuythelatter’s20MHzofspectrumin5circlesovertheband.VodafoneIndiaLiberalisedspectrumdetails*The HYPERLINK"vodafone-tikona-for-4g-spectrum-reports/147545/"Tikona-Vodafone mergerisyettohappenasofnow.AirtelIndia’slargestmobileoperator,BhartiAirtel,hasahugespectrumbankacrossmanybandsexceptthe800MHzband. Initially,Airtelhadaspectrumon2300MHzbandin4circles(Kolkata,Karnataka,Punjab,andMaharashtra).Later,theyacquiredfourQualcommcircles– Delhi,Mumbai,KeralaandHaryana–anditrecentlyacquiredonecirclefromAugereinMadhyaPradesh.AirtelisrollingoutLTE-TDDinthesecircles.In2014and2015,Airtelbaggedsometech-neutralspectrumonthe1800MHzband,whichisbeingusedforboth2GmobilityaswellasLTE-FDDservices.AirtelhasnowlaunchedLTE-FDDinsomecircles– AndhraPradesh,TamilNadu& Chennai,NorthEast,HimachalPradesh,Orissa,andRajasthan.Airtel liberalised spectrumdetailsOnthe3Gturf,Airtelhasitsown3G/HSPAnetworkinthirteen circles.In2015,Airtelbaggedsix additional circlesandintroducedPlatinum3G(over900MHzband)inMumbai andKolkata.InMumbai,Airtelhasdual3Gnetwork.Airtel3GMapIndiaAirtel3GMapRelianceJioJio,RelianceIndustries’telecombrand,isrobustlyshapedwithitsspectrumbank.Thecompanyisyettolaunchitscommercialservices,butithasalreadyinvestedsomethousandcrorerupeestomakeeverythingrightbeforethelaunch.Hereare RelianceJio’sspectrumownershipdetailsJiohasatleast5MHzinthe1800MHzbandinmostcircleswhereit planstorolloutLTE-FDD.It hasplanstorolloutLTE-TDDoverits20MHzcontinuousspectrumin2300MHzbandinallthecircles.Jiostrategicallybagged800MHzspectruminselectedcircleslikeJiohas5MHzinallthe‘CategoryC’circleswherenetworkdeploymentcostcanbereduced.Jio’s1800MHzand800MHzMap:Jio’s1800MHzand800MHzMapAircelAircel,theJVofIndia’sApolloHospitalsandMalaysiantelecomgiantMaxis,hadinvestedahugesumofcapital3GandBWAauctionsthattookplacein2010.However,grabbingsuchahuge spectrumdidnotmakethecompanyprofitable. Thespectrumpricedraggedthemintothedebts.After2010,Aircelwasnevertookamajorparticipationinthefollowingauctions.Aircel3GandAircel4GMapAircel3GandAircel4GMapAircelgrabbedthe2100MHzspectrumin13circlesin2010.In2015,theydidnotwinany2100MHzspectrum.It grabbed2300MHzspectrumin8circles.In2014,Aircelbaggedafractionofthespectruminsomecirclesasatop-up.Intheauctionthathappenedin2015,Aircelwon10MHzspectrumintheTamilNaducircle,whichisthecompany’sstrongestcircle.AsAircelhas20MHz2300MHzspectruminTamilNaducircle,wedon’texpectthatAircelwill usethe1800MHzspectrumforLTE-FDDrolloutinthiscircle. Therehavebeensome talksinthemarketthatAircelmaybeacquiredbyRelianceCommunications.VideoconVideoconTelecomhadacquired1800MHzspectruminsixcirclesin2012.Adding Punjab,theyhavespectruminabout7circles.Sincethen,theyhavenot participatedinanyofthefollowingauctions. In2015,theysoldtheirspectruminGujaratandUPWesttoIdeaCellular.In2016,Videoconmaysellitsentiretelecombusinessinaphasedmanner.Videocon4GMapTheydidnotconfirmanythingabouttheirprofitabilityinthePunjabcirclewheretheyhaveastrongpresencein GSMandCDMA.WithVideoconGroup’sstrategy,itissurethatVideoconisnotgoingtolaunch4Gincomingfuture,anywhereexceptthe Punjabcircle.TelenorIndiaTelenorhasalongandtroubledhistoryintheIndiantelecom.In2009,it investedinUnitech’smobileunitUnitechWireless,andlatercommerciallylaunchedmobileservicesundertheUninorbrand.In2012,it lostallitslicensesafter SupremeCourt’sverdict.However,theyretainedlicensein6circlesandUnitechleftthejointventure.ThenewentityofTelenor’sIndianventurewasnamedasTelewingswhenIndianpartnerwasLakhsadeepInvestments&Finance.InOctober2014,Telenoracquiredfullstake ofTelewings,andUninorwasrebrandedasTelenorIndia.TelenorIndiaMapInthe2014auction,Telenorbaggedspectruminits7thcircle–Assam.TelenorisnowlookingforsomeconsolidationstogrowintheIndianmarket.TataTeleservicesmaybemergedwithTelenorasper marketwhispers.Regarding4G mobileservices,Telenorhasexpressedtojointhebandwagon,butthecompanyhaslimitationsastheyarenowmorefocusedonvoiceanddata.However,TelenorhasplantorolloutnarrowbandLTEonthe1800MHzspectrumwhenthemarketdemands.Telenor’s4GmaywaittillTataTele-Telenormergerhappens.TataDoCoMoTataDoCoMo,thetelecombrandofTataTeleservices,isunderadebtandapressuretoperform.TataTeleserviceshaslostitsforeignpartnerNTTDoCoMolastyear.NowTataTeleservicesislookingforanewpartner.TherearestrongchancesthatTelenorIndia,thewholly-ownedsubsidiaryofNorway’stelecommunicationsgiantTelenormayacquireitwhileTataSonswillbeaminorshareholderinthemergedentity.TataDocomo3GMapTataDocomo3GMapPresently,TataDoCoMoispresentinnineteen circlesofthecountry,andoffersbothGSMandCDMAservices.TataDoCoMo3Gispresentinnine circlesonly.Inearlierauctions,TataTeleservicesmerelyparticipatedandbaggeda fractionofthespectrumasatop-upinfewercircles.RelianceCommunicationsRelianceCommunicationshasits2GGSMpresence(900/1800MHz)andCDMApresence(800MHz)acrossallthe22circles.However,intherecent auctions,thecompany didnotspendmuchtobadthe tech-neutralspectrum.AsperDoT’scalculation,RelianceCommunicationscanmakeits800MHzspectrumliberalisedinsixteen circles.Reliance3GMapReliance3GMapThetelco isinadvancedstagestomergewithSistemaShyam’stelecomventureMTSIndia.MTSiscurrentlypresentinnine circleswithatleastspectrumon800MHzband. Thecompany hasits3Gpresenceinthirteen circlessince2010.Thereare nonew3Gcirclesthatwereaddedtothecompany’sportfolio in2015.MTSIndia:SistemaShyamTeleservices,whichoperatesundertheMTSIndiabrand,isthecountry’ssoleoperatorwhichoperatesonlyonCDMAtechnology.Atpresent,itispresentinnine circles.ExceptRajasthan,allothereight circleshaveliberalised800MHzspectrum,whichcanbeusedforLTE-FDDdeployment.SistemawantstoselloutitsbusinessandRelianceCommunicationsseemstocleartheroadblocksonebyonetogetMTSIndiaunderitshood.Inthisdiscussion,IintentionallykeepBSNLandMTNLaway.Firstly,BSNLandMTNLasawholeispresentacrossthecountrywiththeir3Gservices,andtheir4Gplansareyettobeconcreteenough.Theyholdthe2500MHzspectrum,whichwillincreasetheirCAPEXtorollout4G/LTEservicesandtheyare alreadyofferingWiMAXservicesoncommercialbasisinsomecircleslikeKerala.SoBSNL/MTNL’s4Gisalongwaytocome.