India is one of the few developing countries that has seen rapid growth during the last decade. This economic growth and prosperity has led to an affluent middle class, which in turn fuels the need for quality products and services.
One of the areas that India has lagged behind is telecommunications. Indian consumers do not enjoy the same data speeds as their counterparts in the Western world as 4G services are not yet available in this country. Though 2G and 3G speeds have made considerable headway, 4G has not arrived yet.
To make 4G a reality for Indian users, the two major telecommunications companies – Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd – are working on their 4G technologies. Recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) gave approval for RJIL to test its messaging service on 4G LTE platform. This is a big step for the Indian telecommunication industry as this signals a new beginning into the 4G world.
In addition to this, RJIL is focusing on the launch of its 4G services across the country. It had requested the government to allot 10,000 numbers to test its voice services over the same 4G LTE network and this request too was approved by the government. In tune with its 4G plans, the company has started laying the groundwork for this service.
In the first phase, the company plans to invest around 600 to 700 crore INR in the eastern part of the country. More than 800 mobile towers are being installed in the Indian state of Assam as RJIL plans to roll out its 4G service there by April next year. It also has an agreement with the Kolkatta Municipal Corporation (KMC) to lay 750 km of optical fiber cable within Kolkatta. All this is good news for mobile phone users in India.
Edited by
Alisen Downey 
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