Airtel 4G: India's first 4G service rolled out by Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel, the world's fifth largest telco by customers, on Tuesday became the first mobile phone company to launch fourth generation services in the country from Kolkata, getting a head start over Mukesh Ambani's Infotel Broadband that is tipped to roll out broadband wireless networks by June.

The country's largest mobile phone company, which had won 4G airwaves in four circles in the 2010 auctions, will shortly launch broadband wireless networks in Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh, its chairman Sunil Mittal said after its 4G odyssey was launched by telecom minister Kapil Sibal in the city.

On Tuesday, the telco unveiled its first set of 4G devices like USB dongles and customer premise equipment (CPE) which will enable Airtel customers access the power of 4G networks from their laptops, tablets and compatible handsets at peak speeds of 40 Mbps, which is streets ahead of what wired broadband players like BSNL offer today.

The 4G dongle and CPE, which have been supplied by China's ZTE, have been priced at 7,999 and 7,750, respectively. A USB dongle is akin to a USB memory stick which when connected acts as a modem enabling a PC, a laptop or a tablet to plug on to a 4G network.

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