Telenor India to move to 4G services in six circles by end of FY17

Telecom operator Telenor India, which positions itself as the most affordable network, expects to have 4G services ready in six circles by the end of this fiscal.

"As we speak, we have already swapped 7,000 mobile sites. They are LTE ready. Based on this transformation we have started offering LTE in Varanasi. We expect entire network will be upgraded by the end of this financial year," Telenor India Chief Executive officer Sharad Mehrotra told PTI.

The company has awarded Rs 1,240 crore contract to Chinese telecom equipment firm Huawei for modernising all its 25,000 mobile base station in six telecom circles where it operates.

Telenor provides mobile services in UP (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Maharashtra and Gujarat. Together, these circles account for more than 50% of India's population. The company has a permit for Assam but is yet to start its services.

Mehrotra said 30% Telenor customers are using data and rest are using voice.

"No doubt future is of high speed but at the same time the first time data users that are trying to experiment with the internet on a network like Telenor. We have our own target segment. As customer evolves they expect higher service. In future, we have to have high-speed data play. We are looking at spectrum auction very closely," Mehrotra said.

As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data, Telenor had 7.24 lakh mobile subscribers at the end of January and was among top five telecom operators in terms of new subscriber addition.

He said the firm is working to build up digital products that its offers to customers as it ramps up the network.