Aircel has given multi-million dollar contracts to ZTE and Nokia Siemens Networks for supplying third generation mobile network equipment. While ZTE said that its share of the contract is worth $85 million, NSN did not reveal the size of its deal.
NSN will supply 3G equipment in three circles – Punjab, Kolkata and West Bengal. The company continues to manage Aircel's GSM network in six circles of the country.
“We are committed to enabling a rapid and smooth rollout of the mobile broadband network for Aircel, applying our global experience gained from serving half of the world's 3G subscribers,” said Mr Urs Pennanen, head of India Region, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Our end-to-end solution will help Aircel address the surge in data traffic due to growing use of smartphones as well as generate new revenue opportunities through its delivery of a superior experience to its subscribers.”
As part of the deal, Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide a future-proof mobile packet backbone network, security solutions, and its multi-vendor network management and optimization software, NetAct. Nokia Siemens Networks will operate and manage Aircel's 3G network for four years under a managed services contract.
ZTE Corporation said it will be also responsible for Aircel's 2G network upgrade and implementing the new 3G network and subsequent upgrades.
“This contract between ZTE and Aircel is a significant one for ZTE in the Indian market,” said Mr Huang Dabin, CEO of ZTE India. “As always, ZTE will continue to invest in and maintain a commitment to the Indian market, especially since our Indian customers are regarded as strategic global partners.
Aircel 3G readers from Chennai and Hyderabad have started spotting Aircel 3G signal.Aircel has bagged 3G spectrum in 13 circles.
We’d like you to let us know if you have also come across Aircel 3G signal in your area. Just follow the simple steps to find out if there is 3G services awaiting for you.
Get a 3G handset and go to phone settings > set Network Mode to WCDMA/UMTS > then search for Networks Manually > It is expected that u will have Cellone/Dolphin (thats BSNL/MTNL) and Aircel 3G if available.
You can also email us (aircel3gblog@gmail.com) screenshots with your area name and we’d be happy to post them in this post.
Gurdeep Singh (right), Chief Operating Officer, with actor Suriya, brand ambassador, Aircel, at the launch of 3G experience zone in Chennai, on Tuesday. Photo: Bijoy Ghosh
Aircel is planning for commercial launch of its 3G services soon, according to Gurdeep Singh, Chief Operating Officer.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, Mr. Singh said to enable consumers to access and know more about 3G services, the company has set up four experience Aircel 3G zones in Chennai. Launching the 3G experience zone here, actor Suriya made the first 3G video call on Aircel network. “It is truly an amazing experience,” he said.
Mr. Singh said Aircel has become the first telecom service provider to launch 3G experience zone in Chennai, he said. The 3G experience zones would provide hands-on experience for customers on 3G services. Aircel would make available services such as interactive video voice response (IVVR), 3G pocket internet portal and video calls, Mr. Singh said.
The company would invest around $500 million towards offering 3G facilities and an equal amount for expanding 2G services. The data centre in Bangalore would be upgraded to 3G, Mr. Singh said. On the mode of investment, he said “We are well funded”. The investment would be met through borrowing and shareholders equity.
Aircel, a part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, is India's fifth largest GSM mobile provider with a subscriber base of over 47 million.
AIRCEL, India’s leading mobile operator (part of Maxis Communications, Malaysia), has awarded a contract to Ericsson to rolls out its 3G/HSPA network across six out of its 13 circles or geographic market areas.
The six Aircel circles wherein Ericsson provides 3G technology in are, Tamil Nadu, Bihar -Jharkhand, Orissa, Jammu Kashmir, North East and Assam .These six circles currently serve more than 100 million subscribers and Ericsson will be Aircel’s largest partner for 3G implementation.
Under the agreement with Aircel, Ericsson will provide core, radio and transmission network equipment as well as related services such as network rollout, network technology and consulting, radio network optimization and support services.
The mobile broadband network will include the latest multi-standard radio base station, RBS6000, and the MSC Server Blade Cluster, which will drastically boost the capacity of the network and evolve it into an IP network. The framework contract will be implemented from 2010 to 2012. Deliveries and deployment are underway. Aircel and Ericsson made the first successful 3G call last week in Chennai and Coimbatore .
Gurdeep Singh, COO of Aircel says: “For many people in India connected for the first time, 3G mobile broadband will bring completely new types of services and benefits. We are confident that with this partnership, we will benefit from Ericsson’s global expertise of 3G deployments, and will be able to offer our customers a world-class 3G experience.
Gowton Achaibar, head of Ericsson India , says: “We are extremely excited to partner with Aircel for the implementation of its 3G network. We foresee 3G brings economic advantages and increased social interaction in the country. With the advent of 3G, the mobile phone will not just be about convenience and satisfying a basic need for communication; it will also provide access to services such as healthcare, education and information, supporting people’s livelihoods.”
New Delhi: Telecom service provider Aircel on Friday said it is planning to launch 3G services in the country by early January next year.
“We will roll-out 3G services by early January 2011,” Aircel chief operating officer Gurdeep Singh told reporters here.
Aircel had bagged 3G spectrum in 13 out of the 22 telecom circles. Recently, Aircel had given contract for rolling out 3G network infrastructure to equipment maker Ericsson in six circles.
Other telcos, who got 3G spectrum, like Tata Docomo, the GSM arm of Tata Teleservices had already launched the services. Besides, Tata, Airtel has also announced to launch its 3G services by the end of this year.
On the regulatory environment, Singh said that Aircel will comply with all government regulations. Recently, Trai is understood to have recommended to the telecom department that licences of Aircel in some circles should be cancelled as it had failed to meet the roll-out obligations.
Aircel, which has a pan-India operation with a subscriber base of over 48 million, said that it has not received any communication from the telecom regulator Trai or the telecom department on the subject.
UK based INQ Mobile has launched their mobiles INQ Mini 3G and INQ Chat 3G mobile phone in India. INQ Mini 3G and INQ Chat 3G mobile phones are now available exclusively on Aircel cellular network.
INQ Chat 3G is a QWERTY mobile phone. INQ Mini 3G and Chat 3G phone are pre-loaded with Facebook and Twitter application as well as Skype, windows live messenger, widgets support and Chat 3G with push e-mail facility.
Aircel also announced introductory offer on both mobile phones, user have to recharge of Rs. 251 to avail these benifits. After recharge, user will get ‘internet browsing for three months (2GB per month) and 150 minutes localAircel to Aircel which is valid for three months.
Aircel INQ Mobile India Price List:
iNQ Chat 3G is now available with Aircel at a price tag of Rs. 7599 around the country except Maharashtra and iNQ Mini 3G is priced Rs. 5399.In Maharashtra these mobiles costs Rs. 7999 for Chat 3G and Rs. 5599 for INQ Mini 3G.
Telecom service provider Aircel has unveiled 3G technology in Chennai with the union government asking existing service providers to conduct trials in specific cities.
Aircel, in collaboration with Chinese telecom major ZTE Corp., has conducted the trial of this technology for three weeks in the city.
ZTE has the capability to mix 2G and 3G technology in one network. The Chinese telecom giant is also researching R5 and R6 technologies (SoftSwitch-based control system of the commercial next generation core networks), which will comprise the 4G telephone services in future.
High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) services such as downloading of large volume of business data and streaming movies online at speeds of 3.3 MB per second have also been tested in India, for both computers and mobile handsets, using ZTE cards.
The services to be made available are Internet access, mobile television, mobile video conferencing, video phone and voice and data services through the same equipment.
"We will be able to offer 3G mobile services upon necessary government clearance in a couple of months," said Chinmay Mitra, Aircel group's chief technology officer.
As of now 3G enabled handsets are expensive—eg. the 3G-enabled Nokia E70 costs about Rs. 22,000. According to experts once the 3G technology comes in, there will be more demand and handset costs will reduce.
Aircel maintains that the core network and switching is in place to go 3G for its subscribers in a few months.
Aircel has also roped in Ericsson to provide its media gateway and servers and is also partner it for other telecom technology.
Aircel has successfully completed 3G trials in Chennai. This enables it to offer demanding 3G-based services once its commercialized.
With 3G services in the mobile space on the threshold of reality, many in the industry look at it as the natural evolution from 2G. Moreover, with 2G spectrum already getting choked, the launch of 3G is seen as a significant step in improving overall service levels. To this end, the operators received a major fillip when, in November, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had allowed mobile phone companies to conduct 3G trials in select cities within the stipulated timeframe of March 31, 2007. To that end, Aircel, now part of Malaysia's Maxis Communications, has successfully tested 3G in Chennai in association with ZTE Corporation. Aircel was given permission to conduct 3G readiness tests in Chennai, Coimbatore, Bhubaneshwar, Shillong and Guwahati. The company will be soon doing 3G trials in Coimbatore.
As part of its 3G readiness tests, Aircel has tested a complete array of 3G services including voice and video calls at 64 kbps. Meanwhile, applications like rich data services like downloading music, movies and pictures are tested between 384 to 1024 kbps. On the high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) front, Aircel has achieved speeds of up to 3.3 mbps. According to company sources, this is adequate for HSDPA applications like downloading large volumes of business data and consumer applications like streaming movies online.
AIRCEL's 3G SERVICE Partnered with ZTE
Tested 3G services in Chennai
Tested voice and video calls
According to Kini, there is a lot of ambiguity in terms of 3G as a technology, given that the company dirtied its hands in understanding the technology to the core so that it will be able to offer state-of-the-art services. In terms of infrastructure for the 3G testing, Aircel, in collaboration with ZTE, has put in place a slew of 3G equipments like mobile switching center (MSC) servers, media gateways, radio network controllers (RNC) node B, which is known as 3G BTS with HSDPA, and VoIP nodes.
Still Ambiguous While the government's move in facilitating 3G trials is a positive indication about the subsequent roll out of the technology, one of the larger impacts of 3G lies in the overall improvement of quality of services. In order to provide 3G services, operators need to significantly ramp up their infrastructure. For instance, high speed streaming video can be offered only when the networks are state-of-the-art. Even if a subscriber is using typical 2G services on 3G-enabled network, the quality would be much better. The second major area where 3G is expected to have an impact is on the spectrum crunch on the 2G-based networks. Some of the observers feel that commercial launch of 3G will help ease this issue as there is paucity of spectrum in 2G, mainly in metros. For instance, the 3G spectrum is said to be multiple times higher than the 2G spectrum in terms of voice.
Even if a subscriber is using typical 2G services on 3G-enabled network, the quality would be much better
According to industry sources, commercial availability of 3G services is expected to by mid of this year and companies like Aircel has the early mover advantage in capitalizing on the value 3G services offer. But there are inherent issues that need to be tackled; for instance the government is yet to clearly spell out aspects like slashing the entry fee for 3G, and aspects like whether to restrict bidding to existing players or allow new players and spectrum allocation to GSM and CDMA operators. Aircel considers the successful 3G trials as significant milestone for the company as it gives an advantage to be market ready before a technology becomes commercially available in the country.
Several Indian cellular players such as Bharti, Tata Teleservices etc. are in the process of conducting trials to make sure that 3G backbone is in place before the goverment comes out with its 3G spectrum policy. The success of 3G in India will depend on the pricing of spectrum, launch of cost effective services and availability of 3G handsets.
Contrary to WiMAX, a competing technology, the focus of 3G will be in metros in the initial phase. Indian players are cagey about spending extra funds for 3G spectrum as many international players had burnt their fingers bidding at exhorbitant prices.
GSM-based service provider, Aircel which off late is focusing on mobile data services, said that the company’s successful bid for 3G spectrum in 13 circles will greatly aid the mobile data services strategy of the company.
“After several rounds of competitive bidding, Aircel has bagged 13 telecom circles in 3G for Rs. 6500 crores which will allow us to take our Data Strategy to the next level. This further opens new revenue opportunities and gives way to a dynamic Business Model. We now cover the whole of Southern and Eastern belt where we have our strong presence and in J&K, Punjab & UP (East) as well. With this we will be able to offer seamless connectivity and meaningful products and services to our consumers which will eventually change their life and open a world of possibilities,” said Mr. Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel.
