Idea Cellular 4G services rolled out in 39 towns in Karnataka

Unknown   November 17, 2016   Technology   Comment  

Idea Cellular has expanded its 4G LTE services across 39 towns in Karnataka. The company said within a month it has expanded high speed 4G footprint to 24 districts in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Karwar, Madikeri, Belgavi, Chikmagalur and Chitradurga, covering 20 percent of the state's population.

The company said, in a quick expansion, Idea will launch 4G service in Mangaluru, Udupi-Manipal, Vijayapura, Ballari and 18 more towns by end of the fiscal, taking the total tally to 61. Idea has over 8.6 million consumers in Karnataka.

Idea had announced in December, the launch of 4G LTE services in all four telecom circles (five states) of South India —Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. Earlier this month, it launched services across three more circles – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab — expanding its 4G LTE service footprint to seven telecom service areas.

The Deputy managing director of Idea Cellular, Ambrish Jain said “Now we have 4G footprint in seven telecom circles in India – Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana and Punjab. We will expand it to three more circles namely Maharashtra and Goa, Orissa, and the North East in this financial year”.

“Idea has enabled around 1,000 towers in Karnataka to offer the 4G service. Around 600 of these towers are in Bengaluru. With the increase in 4G users we’ll continue to expand these numbers,” Ambrish Jain said.

The roll out of Idea Cellular 4G services will be financed through internal accruals. The company recorded an EBITDA of Rs 5,739 crore in H1-FY16, a growth of 27.6% over H1-FY15 and cash profits of Rs 5,085 crore, a robust growth of 32.5% over H1FY15.