RIL Infotel 4G services not before mid of 2011

Reliance Infotel Limited, which won pan India BWA spectrum in the recently concluded auctions, will launch services only by the middle of next year.

A senior official of the company told Telecom Yatra that, being a green field operator, the company will need that much time to put all the systems in place

He also said that Infotel is talking to all the tower companies to share infrastructure, and added that it will not be feasible for it to roll out towers on its own and that therefore, infrastructure sharing will be the way to go.

On the technology front, he said the company will adopt a technology that is emerging as a global standard, as migrating to the other technology is a very cost intensive preposition.

There are two fourth generation wireless broadband technologies – WiMax and TD-LTE. Of the two, WiMax is said to be in a greater state of readiness for rollout, while TD-LTE's advantage is that it is backward compliant.

Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries bought 95 per cent stake in Infotel soon after it won pan India 4G spectrum.

Being the only pan India spectrum owner, Infotel's decision regarding the technology is very crucial in deciding the fate of LTE and WiMax technologies in the country, and will have a big impact elsewhere as well.