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The country’s largest telecom service provider, Bharti Airtel rolled out its 4G services in Sikkim. Airtel 4G services are now live in Gangtok using dual spectrum TD LTE 2300 MHz and FD LTE 1800 MHz. The subscribers can enjoy Airtel 4G services across a range of smart devices including smartphones, Wi-Fi dongles and 4G hotspots.

Cleanest State with Advanced 4G Network:

Bharti Airtel has deployed the latest Carrier Aggregation technology to offer a superior 4G experience in the state capital. Gangtok now joins a select group of cities globally to have an advanced 4G network that offers data speeds of up to 135Mbps on compatible handsets. As a part of Project Leap, the company will invest a whooping ₹ 60,000 crores and expand 4G network in the cleanest state of India over the next three years.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vir Inder Nath, CEO – West Bengal & Odisha, Bharti Airtel Ltd, said, “We are delighted to launch our 4G services in Sikkim. Customers can choose from a wide range of affordable prepaid and postpaid plans and get onto the digital superhighway with Airtel.”

Airtel 4G Special Offers:

At the launch, the telecom operator has announced a one-time SIM upgrade offer of free 2GB of 4G data. With every new 4G compatible handset, the Airtel prepaid subscriber can avail 10GB of 4G data for just ₹ 255. Here, 1GB 4G data will be instantly credited and the additional 9GB to be claimed by the customer through MyAirtel app. The Airtel subscribers can enjoy seamless 4G services starting from ₹ 450 and advance rental plans starting from Rs 4500.

The company has announced a new version of MyAirtel app where the subscribers can enjoy music, movies, live TV, ebooks and more in one place. Moreover, the company has launched Airtel Dialer supporting free calling and the new Airtel Cloud app offering 2GB cloud backup.

LeEco, the Chinese tech giant, has produced a good number of high-end smartphones in its home market. Incidentally, India became LeEco’s first market outside of China and is slowly expanding to other countries including the United States. As per the recent reports, the company’s high-end phone Le Max has become the top seller ahead of Apple and Samsung.

In a similar note, LeEco’s second-generation superphone Le 2 has achieved a great distinction “user rating of four stars” on Flipkart. It enjoys the tag of being the popular smartphone with its best-in-class specs at a great value price. Commenting on the feat, the company said: “We have achieved great success in the India market with our powerful portfolio of products and services.”

LeEco’s Le 2 Specifications:

LeEco’s Le 2 was launched in India in June this year and has got extremely positive reviews. Priced at ₹ 11,999, LeEco Le 2 sports 4G VoLTE dual-SIM connectivity with 5.5-inch full-HD resolution display screen. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, this sub-12K category smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and packs 3GB RAM, 32GB onboard storage.

On the camera front, it has a 16-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front camera with ground breaking technologies for taking great pictures. Packed with non-removable 3000mAh battery, it supports quick charge to half in 30 minutes. LeEco’s Le 2 features fingerprint sensor that gives ultra fast access with a 360-degree touch-unlocking feature.

India’s leading telecommunication service provider Vodafone India announced the launch of its 4G SuperNet services in Ambala. The company said it would roll out 4G services across Haryana region over the next few months.

Built on the state-of-the-art 1800MHz spectrum band, Vodafone customers can enjoy a superior high-speed broadband internet on mobile across a range of smart devices including Mi-Fi and dongles. Customers can enjoy HD video streaming, mobile gaming and two-way video calling.

Addressing the launch, Mr. Mohit Narru, Business Head – Haryana, Vodafone India, said, “Haryana is a strong leadership market for Vodafone India and as the leading telecom service provider, our over 5.5 million customers have a lot to look forward to. Vodafone India is now expanding its 4G services Rewari and the entire state in a phased manner.

Vodafone 4G Special Benefits:

The esteemed Vodafone customer does get a host of special benefits including faster 4G services at 3G prices and smaller 45MB data pack for ₹12. The customers purchasing 1GB and above data packs will get double data benefit and unlimited local Vodafone to Vodafone calls. The subscribers can also enjoy unlimited access to free TV, movies and videos on Vodafone Play for a period of 3 months.

Vodafone India is known to offer enhanced customer experience through its array of services including instant 4G SIM upgrade at retail outlets and door-step delivery of postpaid 4G SIMS. Recently, the telecom service provider has launched affordable 20GB 4G data at ₹999.

Vodafone India is committed to launch 4G SuperNet services in 1,000 towns across India by the end of the year. The company has received ₹47,700 crore since April 2016 from its parent Vodafone Group and acquired efficient spectrum in all its key telecom circles across the country.

Ending months of speculation, India’s largest DTH operator Dish TV and Videocon d2h have decided to merge forming India’s largest Direct to Home operator. The merged entity to be renamed as Dish TV Videocon Ltd is valued at about 17,000 crores and would serve 27.6 million subscribers.

Strategic Combination:

Dish TV is the market leader in Direct to Home space with more than 15.1 million active customers. It is a division of Zee Entertainment Enterprises owned by Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group. In fact, Dish TV was the first DTH service operator in India, launching services in the year 2003. While Videocon d2h, the DTH arm of Videocon Industries Ltd is the third largest DTH platform with 12.6 million subscribers as of March 2016.

Post-merger, the new combined entity will be renamed as Dish TV Videocon Ltd. And the current Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel will head the new merged entity as Chairman and Managing Director.

Their combined entity’s revenue in FY16 was 5920 crores and has an operating profit of 1826 crore. As per the scheme of amalgamation, Dish TV shareholders will own 55.4% of Dish TV Videocon and the rest 44.6% shares will be owned by Videocon d2h shareholders.

Expecting Substantially More Synergies:

“Today we are very excited about this strategic combination to create a solid platform with decisive and proven leadership at the front would lead Dish TV Videocon to create value for all stakeholders, our customers, employees, and our shareholders.” said Mr. Jawahar Lal Goel, Managing Director, Dish TV.

“There was a need for consolidation in the industry because of the competition and regulatory challenges. This merger will take the company to another level. The combined synergies will create value for all the stakeholders. It’s a new opportunity,” said Mr. Saurabh Dhoot, Executive Chairman, Videocon d2h.

Currently, India has 6 private Direct to Home operators – Dish TV, Tata Sky, Videocon d2h, Airtel Digital TV, Sun Direct and Reliance Digital TV. The public broadcaster Prasar Bharti (Doordarshan) runs DD Free Dish previously known as DD Direct Plus.

When the entire industry is talking about 4G LTE smartphones, Reliance Communications has gone far ahead and launched India’s first 4G LTE home phone. This 4G VoLTE enabled fixed wireless phone is definitely the industry first and every 4G lover would like to have it in their homes. Modeled as Wi Bridge- RM4G234, this fixed wireless phone has a built-in SIM slot.

Industry First 4G LTE Home Phone:

Reliance Communications Ltd, the fourth largest telecom operator in India, launched the 4G LTE home phone. The company claims it as a phone for everything and a phone for everyone in your phone. The fixed wireless phone looks as if it is a regular landline telephone. In traditional fixed-line handsets, one can observe copper wiring. On contrary, this 4G LTE fixed wireless phone is wirelessly connected to RCom’s 4G Network.

The 4G LTE Home Phone sports a 3.5-Inch TFT Colour touch screen. One can carry this 4G VoLTE enabled wireless fixed land phone across the country as it connects to the RCom’s 4G network via antenna. The device runs on Android 5.1 operating system and receives LTE signal and has an inbuilt Wi-Fi signal router to connect to 8 devices simultaneously. That means the ultra-high-speed 4G data can connect up to 8 Wi-Fi-enabled devices.

The RCom’s 4G Fixed Wireless Phone supports HD Voice, SMS, and VoLTE features. And it also supports easy cascading of YouTube to Smart TV. Unlike Reliance Jio, this doesn’t have any unlimited free calling facility. As per the company, it has offered 2 tariff plans namely 4G Smart Lite 299 and 4G Smart Lite 499 offering 2GB and 4GB of high-speed 4G data. After the completion of the bundled data pack, the subscriber needs to recharge with data add-on pack so as to enjoy the continuous high-speed 4G internet experience.

Reliance 4G Fixed Wireless Phone Tariffs:

If you are not aware, Reliance Communications is a subsidiary of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Reliance Jio Infocomm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited.

The latest developments surrounding consumer electronics indicate Lenovo has decided to kill its own brand name and sell Motorola brand in smartphones niche. If the reports are to be believed, the top management has taken this bold decision to phase out Lenovo brand for its phones.

When the Chinese multinational technology company, Lenovo acquired Motorola Mobility for $2.91 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, it was announced that Motorola name would be phased out and get replaced with the ‘Moto’ brand. However, one can notice that Motorola brand still appears on packaging and also through its licensees.

Even after a year, Lenovo couldn’t chalk out a formidable plan to replace Motorola. Going by the popularity, Motorola is a much bigger brand when compared to Lenovo. Motorola is the American company which introduced mobile phones to people the world over in the early 2000s.

Why Not Lenovo?

As per the latest developments in the Lenovo, it is clearly understood that the company is taking a selfless decision to promote popular brand name rather than keeping its interests on the front.

Personal computers are still the most important business vertical for Lenovo. In fact, Lenovo is the world’s largest personal computer vendor by unit sales. The company expanded significantly through the acquisition of IBM’s personal computer business including its ThinkPad and ThinkCentre lines of notebooks and desktops respectively.

With less than 6% share of the smartphone market, Lenovo was ousted from the top five worldwide smartphone market leadership. Moreover, the company has just $2 billion last year from its smartphones business. This clearly shows, Lenovo’s top-most priority would be the personal computers rather than smartphone business.

As per the 2016 Q2 reports, Samsung reasserted its global leadership followed by Apple and Huawei. Oppo and Vivo has been able to capture a strong brand presence and are listed 4th and 5th respectively.

Motorola Mobility - Advantage Brand Moto:

On contrary, Motorola has got a good name in the global market. Their recent product line has got stupendous success. Whether it is budget or high-cost, Motorola has got stronger branding for their smarphones. Moreover, there has been a lot of shuffling going on in their smartphones division. Key management positions are being transferred to PC, IT management and cloud business.

Though there is no official confirmation, insider reports suggest that Lenovo is killing its own brand name and nurture brand Motorola.

Vodafone India, the second largest telecom service provider, will shortly expand 4G network coverage across the country by March 2017. The company will roll out 4G services in 2400 towns and across 8 additional telecom circles by the end of this financial year.

As of now, Vodafone India has launched SuperNet 4G services across 9 circles and command a market share of 18.42%. Starting its 4G services from Kochi in Kerala in December 2015, Vodafone India has extended its 4G footprint to Delhi and NCR, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai, UP (East) and West Bengal.

Eyeing Expansion:

By March 2017, Vodafone India will implement SuperNet 4G services in key circles of Assam and North East, Maharashtra and Goa, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) and UP (West).

In a press statement, Mr. Sunil Sood, MD and CEO, Vodafone India, said, “We are actively working to expand 4G coverage in our circles across the nation to offer our hundreds of million customers world-class data experience. We have enhanced our 4G roll out plans following the spectrum auction in which we emerged as the biggest winners. Our investments in creating a modern and scalable network and partnering with leading global technology infrastructure service providers are enabling aggressive roll out in terms of pace and scale of deployment.”

Vodafone M-Pesa - Digital Wallet:

Vodafone India welcomed the Government’s vision and PM’s bold step to accelerate India’s progress into a less cash economy. The company launched Vodafone M-Pesa App to offer digital payment solutions to its subscribers. Apart from paying bills, the users can digitise cash and remit it to family and friends making M-Pesa an ideal digital wallet for masses.

The demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes has caused a panic among the public. In India where cash is the primary mode of transaction, currency demonetisation from the midnight of November 8 has led to liquidity crunch. In this scenario, the telecos extended the deadline for their subscribers to pay mobile bills by three days.

Bharti Airtel, the Indian global telecommunications services company, extended the bill payment on mobile and fixed telephony, broadband and subscription TV services due date to November 15, 2016. In a similar move, Vodafone India, the second largest mobile network operator in India after Bharti Airtel, also extended the same facility to its subscribers.

An Airtel spokesperson said, “Apart from extending bill payment due date to postpaid customers by up to 3 days, we are providing some talk time or data load to prepaid customers to ensure there is continuity of services and they are not inconvenienced.”

Surprise and Bold Action Move:

The sudden late-night currency demonetisation was done in an effort to crack down on black money and to contain the rising incidence of fake notes. Starting from today, the people can get new 500 and 2000 notes cleared by RBI from all the branches of commercial banks or at any post office.

Indian domestic handset maker Micromax announced the addition of budget VoLTE smartphone – Micromax Canvas Spark 4G to its successful Spark series. The smartphone will be exclusively available at a competitive price tag of ₹4,999 on online marketplace player Snapdeal through flash sale starting from this noon.

Micromax Canvas Spark 4G Specifications:

As per the specs, Micromax Canvas Spark 4G sports a 5-inch IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection and runs on 1.3GHz quad-core Spreadtrum processor and 1GB RAM. The handset is equipped with 8GB internal storage space and expandable up to 32GB via microSD card.

On the camera front, the Micromax Canvas Spark 4G features a 5-megapixel primary camera and 2-megapixel front cam for selfies. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone supports dual-SIM, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Powered by 2,000mAh battery and Android Marshmallow OS, Micromax latest smartphone is a competitive product offering multi-tasking capabilities.

Micromax Spark Series:

Addressing the launch, Mr. Shubhajit Sen, Chief Marketing Officer, Micromax Informatics, said, “The consumer response to the Spark series has been phenomenal. And the 4G adoption amongst consumers has been phenomenal and we believe that the Canvas Spark with 4G VoLTE capabilities will delight the consumers.”

The latest Micromax Canvas Spark 4G is available in 3 colour options including Champagne Gold, Grey Black and Champagne White. And the company has announced that customers will get Jio 4G Welcome Offer bundled with this budget VoLTE smartphone.

The state-run telecommunications company BSNL has claimed that around 13,000 former customers returned to BSNL Chennai Telephones in the recently conducted reconnection melas. The BSNL landline customers who left the company in search of mobile benefits returned to its fold.

The Chennai Telephones BSNL has organized reconnection melas between September 14 and October 30 across its telecom circle to settle disputes related to non-payment of dues. Issuing a statement, Mrs. G Vijaya, Assistant General Manager, Public Relations, BSNL Chennai Telephones, said, “The number of customers brought back is around 13,000 and the outstanding dues collected was nearly Rs 2.5 crore. Similar exercise is planned for mobile customers also.”

BSNL’s Host of Offers:

The state-owned BSNL reached out to the customers by forming multi-functional teams comprising finance, accounts, technical and outdoor staff. Many attractive offers were showered including waiver of reconnection fee, retaining the same landline telephone number, instant reconnection, easy instalments to repay outstanding dues, hassle free formalities for reconnection, etc.

BSNL has been strengthening its infrastructure which was disrupted due to the floods that happened last year. This time, BSNL Chennai Telephones is ready for any unfavorable conditions of transmitting signals by making backup of power even without electricity. To remind, BSNL has got schemes supporting unlimited night calling and cheaper broadband plans to regain the trust of customers.

The country’s largest mobile network, Bharti Airtel rolls out its 4G services in Uttarakhand state. Starting the 4G services from the interim capital of the Himalayan state, Airtel will soon extend its 4G footprint in 20 plus more towns. At present, the Airtel 4G services can be accessed by the subscribers at Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee, Rishikesh, Rudrapur, and Haldwani.

Airtel in Fast Growing State:

By launching the Airtel 4G services in Devbhumi, the company aims to provide superfast mobile broadband on many tourist spots in the Himalayas. Incidentally, the state draws a large number of tourists and adventure seekers throughout the year and is the second fastest growing state in India.

Addressing the launch, Mr. Avneet Singh Puri, COO – UP & Uttarakhand, Bharti Airtel, said, “We are delighted to launch Airtel 4G services in Uttarakhand. Whether struck in office, or on the move – our valued customers can now enjoy high speed internet on Airtel 4G network anywhere, without having to pay anything additional. Customers can now also look forward to choosing from a host of affordable data and tariff plans that offer great value.”

Airtel 4G Experience in Uttarakhand:

This is to mention that Airtel has deployed 4G services in Uttarakhand using spectrum band of 1800MHz FD LTE for superior customer experience and higher network capacity. The Airtel subscribers can upgrade to 4G ready USIMS at free of cost at any Airtel retail stores. The company has also installed special demo zones and kiosks to feel the uninterrupted high speed mobile broadband on Airtel 4G.

As an introductory offer, Airtel 4G subscriber can now enjoy 10GB of 4G data for just ₹249 with any new 4G enabled handset. 1GB 4G data will be credited instantly and the additional 9GB data need to be claimed through MyAirtel app. The subscribers can make a maximum of 3 recharges within 90 days of the offer period. Just to recap, high speed Airtel 4G services can be accessed on mobile phones, dongles and 4G hotspots.

Vodafone India, the second largest mobile network in India, has expanded its 4G services in Haryana by rolling out SuperNet 4G operations ar Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani and Jind. As per the latest statement released by the company, Vodafone India is all set to deploy 4G services across the state in coming months.

Addressing the launch, Mr. Mohit Narru, Business Head - Haryana, Vodafone India, said, “Haryana is a strong leadership market for Vodafone India. And the leading telecom operator is committed to expand services across the state in a phased manner.” All Vodafone subscribers across the state can upgrade to 4G by exchanging their existing SIM to a 4G ready SIM free of cost.

Double Data Offer:

To attract the customer on 4G, Vodafone India is offering 4G data packs starting from ₹12 for 45MB. Along with the smaller data packs, the telecom has introduced double data offer for selective data packs. The Vodafone subscribers purchasing greater than 1GB data packs will get twice the data as a promotional offer and unlimited local Vodafone to Vodafone calls across the network.

As a promotional offer, Vodafone India is offering home delivery of postpaid SIMS. The subscriber can directly call the customer care or send an SMS <4G SIM> to 199. You can check the 4G compatibility of your handset and or SIM by sending an SMS <4G CHECK> to 199.

British but Indian at Heart:

The British multinational telecommunications company owns and operates in 26 countries and has a strong presence in 9 telecom circles in India. The company has a target of 1000 towns across India for its deployment of 4G services. Right now, the Vodafone India is using 1800MHz band spectrum in Haryana for efficient coverage of 4G services and has got 286 Vodafone branded stores for its retail presence.

BlackBerry, the Canadian smartphone developer, has launched two new Android-powered handsets DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 in India. The company also partnered with Optiemus Infracom to strengthen their market in India. Similarly, it has entered into a joint venture with Vistron for manufacturing and is also the distributor for Samsung and Plantronics.

Utilizing the Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box, BlackBerry announced the launch of DTEK50 and DTEK60 at ₹21,990 and ₹46,990 in India. To be precise, these are the re-branded version of Alcatel Idol 4 and Alcatel Idol 4S manufactured by TCL Corporation.

BlackBerry DTEK50 Specifications:

The company’s thinnest phone ever at 7.4mm sports a 5.2-inch full HD display with an oil-resistant coating. The DTEK50 runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor coupled with 3GB RAM and 16GB internal storage space expandable up to 2TB via microSD card.

Camera wise, BlackBerry DTEK50 features a 13-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front camera with flash. Backed by 2610mAh non-removable battery with Quick Charge 2.0 technology, the company claims to offer 17 hours talk time, 12.8 days standby time, 40 hours audio playback and 8 hours video playback. The smartphone offers intelligent keyboard as a default on this phone and equipped with all connectivity options including the support for Indian LTE bands.

BlackBerry DTEK60 Specifications:

This single-SIM BlackBerry DTEK60 sports a 5.5-inch QHD display (1440X2560 pixels) at 534ppi pixel density screen and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC with 4GB RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage expandable up to 2TB via microSD card. On the camera front, the DTEK60 supports a 21-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and 8-megapixel front camera. The smartphone runs on a 3000mAh non-removable battery with Quick Charge 3.0 to deliver 26 hours of talk time.

Will BlackBerry Bounce Back?

BlackBerry’s phones are known for secured handsets and this DTEK is no exception. The DTEK phones are equipped with built-in security app to make the smartphone more secure and cryptographic.

Formerly known as Research In Motion Limited (RIM), Blackberry was the leading smartphone in many markets, particularly the United States for a number of years. The arrival of Apple iPhone and later Google’s Android platform led to the criticism that BlackBerry’s hardware and operating system were outdated and led to the mass defections in tech history.

Re: GST Impact - How Will GST Affect Telecom Sector?

As per the recent announcement by the Finance Ministry, telecom bills may go up with 18% Goods and Service Tax slab rate. Though the government is yet to announce segment wise rates, it has unveiled a four tier GST structure with rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.

Increase in Monthly Bills:

The Economic Times, the leading daily newspaper on Indian economy and matters related to finance, reported that tax on telecom services could be 18% as compared to the current 15% rate. As a result, the effective 3% rise could be noticed in monthly telecom bills. For example, a subscriber currently paying a monthly mobile bill of ₹1,000 will have to shell out ₹30 more.

May Hit Digital India Campaign:

On a larger scale, this higher GST rate could give a serious blow to Government’s Digital India ambitions. As it directly hurts the common man and growth of the infrastructure sector would be at a lower rate. Mr Rajan Mathews, Director-General, Cellular Operators Association of India, said, “Since telecom is an essential service under Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1968, it was imperative that the one country one tax GST rate should have been aligned with the merit rate of tax applicable for essential products and services, which is way below 15%”.

“It will have an inflationary effect on the overall cost of provisioning telecom services and increase costs for subscribers,” added Mr Mathews. Moreover, the continuation of Central Exercise duties and State Sales Taxes on petroproducts will have a negative impact on telecom companies. Incidentally, the telecom sector is the second biggest purchaser of diesel after the Indian Railways.

Can it be 12% GST?

With the proposed four-tier Goods and Service Tax GST gets operational April 2017, the telecom industry executives expect that 12% GST slab rate is unlikely as it will mean a cut in revenue for the government. Keeping fingers crossed. Watch this space for more updates.

The Turkish manufacturer General Mobile has launched a new Android One smartphone, G5, making it the first Nougat-based Android One handset. Incidentally, Android Nougat 7.1 is available on a few select smartphones including Google Pixel and LG V20.

General Mobile G5 Specifications:

Specs-wise, General Mobile G5 Android One handset sports a 5-inch HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.

G5 Advanced Camera:

In terms of camera, the G5 smartphone will have a 13-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera sensor to take perfect selfies. It has inbuilt virtual reality photo sphere software and makes the photos ready for collage and shareable on social media. As per the company, the handset defines the photos for the user. If one types ‘selfies’, then it sorts all selfies taken so far and if one says ‘car’, it sorts photos with a car in it.

European Rollout?

The G5 smartphone is packed with 2,500mAh battery and run on up-to-date Google 7.0 Nougat operating system. The smartphone is available in single SIM and dual-SIM variants and in three color options – Gold, Space Gray and Black.

As the Istanbul-based smartphone maker has heavy roots in Europe, the company plans to offer G5 in 20 countries including Azerbaijan, Albania, Afghanistan, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Iraq, Kenya, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Pakistan, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

Currently, there is no information on the release date and price tag the GM5 Android One carries.

Xiaomi has been teasing Redmi 4 for some time now and the company has finally launched the successor to its popular Redmi 3 line up. Xiaomi has a lot of fanbase for its affordable brand Redmi. The company launched 3 variants of the phone – Redmi 4 Pro, Redmi 4 and Redmi 4A in 3 colours – Gold, Grey and Silver.

At an event in Beijing, China, Xiaomi launched and revealed the prices of the lineup as Redmi 4 Pro (CNY 899), Redmi 4 (CNY 699) and Redmi 4A (CNY 499) and will go on sale from November 11th. Roughly, this will be ₹ 8900, ₹ 6900, and ₹ 4900 respectively.

Both the Redmi 4 Prime and Redmi 4 smartphones look similar in design and specifications but have some major differences in specifications. Xiaomi Redmi 4 Pro and Redmi 4 sports a 5-inch full HD display with 1080p resolution and 2.5D curved glass display. They support hybrid dual-SM slots and a fingerprint scanner on the rear panel.

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Pro Specifications:

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Pro is powered by a 2.0GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and runs on 3GB RAM coupled with 32GB internal storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD card. On the camera front, the phone supports a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera. Backed by 4100mAh battery, Redmi 4 Pro supports 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v4.1, Wi-Fi, GPS and other necessary connectivity options. This prime variant runs on the latest MIUI 8 built on Android Marshmallow.

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Specifications:

Xiaomi Redmi 4 standard edition is powered by Snapdragon 430 SoC clocked at 1.4GHz and 2GB RAM with 16GB internal storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD. Camera and connectivity-wise, it has the same specs. And powered by a 4100mAh battery with fast charging feature!

Xiaomi Redmi 4A Specifications:

The Xiaomi Redmi 4A is the most basic of the Redmi 4 lineup and foregoes a fingerprint scanner. It is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 425 SoC and runs on 2GB RAM with 16GB inbuilt storage. All the other specs being the same except a 3120mAh battery, this Xiaomi Redmi 4A weighs just 131.5grams. This affordable variant is up for sale in Gold and Rose Gold colour variants.

As there is no official word regarding its international availability, Xiaomi’s new handsets are China exclusive for now.

Punjab’s leading telecom operator, Connect Broadband, is all set to deploy 1Gbps speed internet on its fixed line network. The company has claimed that it successfully tested 100Mbps internet speed on copper and 500Mbps internet speed on FTTH network. With the achievement, the company is ready to launch high-speed 1Gbps internet in a phased manner.

Mentioning the biggest achievement, Mr. Arvind Bali, CEO Connect Broadband and Videocon Telecom, said, “With Internet of Things (IoT) revolution and connected value chain, the internet and network is expanding to all places including manufacturing floors, energy grids, healthcare facilities, and transportation.

Higher Screen Resolution - More Data Usage:

The importance of HD and 4K video content availability led to the higher bandwidths and finally delivering highest standards of Quality of Experience (QoE) for the customers. As a result, Videocon Group is taking it as a challenge and effectively created a network where the subscribers can exceed 1Gbps internet speed without any hassles. Te recap, Connect Broadband is offering 300GB free data and free voice calls to its customers without any changes in its pricing.

Apart from testing 100 Mbps and 500 Mbps speeds, the Connect Broadband is also piloting the technologies such as vectoring with VDSL and G.Fast to offer 300Mbps on its copper network. Recently, Connect Broadband has participated in “Broadband World Forum” held in London where it had got enough acquaintance to explore and assistance from the global players to deploy 1Gbps speed on its fixed line network.

Getting 1Gbps on fiber networks is not a thing of future. Reputed companies like AT&T, British Telecom, Google, and Verizon has already been offering 1Gbps speed on their networks. Connect Broadband and Reliance Jio trying their best to deploy the same service in India. As Reliance Jio is busy in tuning its network and operationalizing the Points-of-Interconnect issues, Connect Broadband will have good chance to make it the first in India. Of course, Connect Broadband has a greater presence in Punjab Telecom Circle.

Vodafone India, the second largest mobile network operator in India, has launched its SuperNet 4G services in Rewari district of Haryana. Earlier, Vodafone India started its 4G services in the cities of Karnal and Panipat and extended it to the key business and residential corridors of Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Hisar, Jind, Rohtak, Sonipat and Rewari. The company is all set to extend its 4G footprint across Haryana in coming months as Haryana is a strong leadership market for Vodafone India.

Getting 4G Ready:

The company is using the 1800 Mhz spectrum band to offer SuperNet 4G faster speed and superior browsing experience. All Vodafone customers in Haryana can upgrade to 4G by exchanging their existing SIM to a 4G ready SIM free of cost.

Addressing the 4G launch, Mr. Mohit Narru, Business Head – Haryana, Vodafone India, said, “With over 5.5 million subscribers, we are delighted to extend our Vodafone SuperNet 4G services in Haryana. Vodafone’s global expertise of 4G across 25 countries gives us a better understanding of this technology and the needs of the 4G customer”.

A Host of Offers:

Vodafone customers in Haryana can avail special benefits on the new Vodafone SuperNet 4G. The company announced double data benefit offers on selective packs including 20GB of 4G data at ₹ 999. It even offered small data packs starting from ₹ 12 for 45MB of 4G data. To counter Reliance Jio, the telco has announced that the customers purchasing greater than 1GB packs will get double data and unlimited local Vodafone to Vodafone calls.

As an inaugural offer, the telecom operator is giving 3-month access to free TV, movies, and videos on Vodafone Play. One can even enjoy access to over 100 live TV channels, 18000 plus movies and TV show titles and music in association with Hungama Play and HOOQ.

Made for Travel - A Network for Global Reach:

Vodafone India started offering its 4G SuperNet services from Kochi in Kerala in December 2015 and would extend its 4G footprint in Gujarat, UP (East), and West Bengal and in 1,000 towns across India by the end of the year. Moreover, the company has enabled 4G international roaming for its Indian customers across 25 countries including UK, US, UAE, Singapore, and Canada and more countries to be added in the near future.

India’s leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel launched its 4G services in 13 major towns of Uttar Pradesh. In fact, Airtel extended its 4G footprint in the largest state of the country by rolling out the 4G services on the 1800 MHz spectrum band using FD-LTE technology. With today’s launch, Airtel 4G services are now available PAN-India in 21 circles.

Starting from the state capital Lucknow, Airtel 4G services are now spread to Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad, Bulandshahar, Gorakhpur, Hapur, Kanpur, Mathura, Meerut, Modinagar, Muzzafarnagar and Varanasi. As per the company sources, Bharti Airtel is committed to extending its 4G services in more than 200 towns in coming months.

Addressing the launch, Mr. Shailendra Singh, CEO – Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand, Bharti Airtel, said, “The company is delighted to launch 4G services in UP. The subscribers can now look forward to exciting data offers, and enjoy the high-speed mobile internet on Airtel 4G network”. With the 4G launch, the esteemed customers of Airtel can now upgrade to 4G free of cost at any Airtel retail store across the state.

10GB of 4G data at ₹ 249 only:

Though there was no special mention of lucrative offers, Airtel has extended the 4G benefit offer to Uttar Pradesh state. Airtel prepaid subscribers can enjoy 10GB of high-speed 4G data at ₹ 249 only. As per the offer, 1GB of data will be credited instantly and the remaining 9GB 4G data need to be claimed by the Airtel subscriber through MyAirtel app. However, the customer can make a maximum of 3 charges within 90 days period.

Bharti Airtel is ready to counter Reliance Jio with a big bang VoLTE launch. India’s leading telecom operator has awarded a 60 million dollars (approx 402 crores) to Nokia to implement VoLTE technology. If the sources are to be believed, this voice-over-LTE will be launched within this year though there is no launch timeline for the same.

The Economic Times has highlighted the contract details between Sunil Mittal-led telecom giant and Helsinki-headquartered Nokia Networks technology and expertise to supply and implement Voice over LTE (VoLTE) solution. Earlier, Airtel considered this technology and piloted it in a few areas. With promising results, Bharti Airtel is now looking at a big bang launch on a PAN-India basis by striking a deal with Nokia for a smooth transition to VoLTE.

Nokia Networks is known for its rich expertise in implementing and integrating IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Open TAS (Telecommunications Application Server), Home Subscriber Server (HSS) and Border gateway (Open BGW) will enable VoLTE services.

VoLTE Revolutionizing Communication:

VoLTE which allows high-definition (HD) voice calls have many advantages for both operators and customers. With VoLTE, the consumers can look forward to richer communication services, improved smartphone battery life, faster call setup times, no dropped calls and higher quality HD voice calls than regular voice applications.

By providing VoLTE, the telecom service provider can enhance indoor coverage using Wi-Fi and extend its communication services. The operator can offer both voice and data without switching between bands. Airtel currently offers calling on the legacy circuit-switch technology. The new technology enables spectral efficiency including improved performance under load. Moreover, the overall data consumption and signaling load are lower compared to over-the-top voice applications.

The Airtel Advantage:

As per the industry experts, Airtel will have a clear advantage if the company launches VoLTE services anytime soon. As Reliance Jio is still in nascent stage, yet to publicize the benefits of VoLTE technology, Airtel can use this opportunity. If Bharti Airtel can deploy VoLTE technology soon and make it as a complimentary service to its existing voice applications, the Airtel subscribers will be on cloud nine.

Telecom Industry Heads into Fierce VoLTE Race:

No doubt, Reliance Jio has given the necessary push to smartphone makers to incorporate VoLTE feature in their handsets. As per the recent report by Cybermedia Research, more than 14 million VoLTE-enabled handsets are estimated to have been shipped into India in the September quarter. This is roughly twice the number in the previous quarter.

Interestingly, India’s second and third largest telecom service providers (Vodafone India and Idea Cellular) could also join the VoLTE race anytime. Vodafone is already piloting VoLTE in select areas using Nokia’s IMS solution. On the other hand, Idea Cellular is in talks with Stockholm-headquartered networking and telecommunications equipment and services company Ericsson. Their 4G spectrum holdings in the recently concluded auctions highlight the same.