In one of its biggest initiative, the Indian telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCom) will move roughly five million of its CDMA subscribers to 4G network starting from May 2016.
“We will be upgrading our network from CDMA to LTE (a 4G standard) technology,” said RCom in a letter to the telecom department. “We would be rolling out LTE services progressively in these service areas from May 4 and necessary intimation will be provided to our existing CDMA subscribers.”
RCom will be using its liberalised 800 Mhz spectrum to upgrade its network from CDMA to LTE (4G) technology. The operator will also leverage the spectrum sharing pact with Reliance Jio for the 4G launch.
RCom has started intimating subscribers about the upgrade process in four telecom circles including Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha.
RCom has already liberalized its 800 Mhz spectrum in sixteen telecom circles and had signed an airwave-sharing pact in the 800 MHz band in seventeen telecom circles with Reliance Jio. Recently the government has approved liberalising 800 MHz spectrum in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu allowing RCom to share or trade spectrum in these areas.
With this move, RCom will come in direct competition with the biggies Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea cellular, who have already rolled out 4G across the country.