MUMBAI: Telecom service operator Reliance Communications today announced the launch of its 3G services in four cities Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chandigarh at what it called "affordable tariffs".
It is the second operator to launch 3G after Tata DoCoMo.
The company also announced that it will launch 3G services across its 13 telecom circles by the end of this fiscal, while targeting a national footprint in association with some other operators in the rest of the nine circles during the next year.
The company holds 3G licences in the telecom circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharasthra, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, North East, Jammu and Kashmir, Orissa and Assam.
Reliance Communications CEO wireless Syed Safawi said, "The launch of Reliance 3G is an integral part of our ‘Vision 2015‘ of a wire-free India built on an affordable-for-all platform, simplified tariffs, personalised services and content-rich portfolio".
The 3G services will offer features such as video-calling, mobile TV, video streaming and applications access at super-fast speeds on a wide variety of both mobile phone and personal computing devices. The company has done a deal with Universal Music for content, Nokia and Ericsson for applications and Motricity for web portal. The existing subscribers will be automatically upgraded to 3G services if they have a 3G-enabled smart phone.
On video-calling, the company said that they are awaiting the government‘s permission to launch the service in the country. It is optimistic about getting the clearances along with other operators.
Under its ‘Affordable 3G for All‘ plan, the company said the 3G USB Data card for 3G 7.2 Mbps will cost Rs 2,599 and for 3G 21 Mbps will cost Rs 4,499. The pricing of 3G mobile broadband data will start from Rs 100 for 100 MB to up to Rs 2,100 for 21 GB per month, the company said.
The small validity data packs for prepaid will cost Rs 20 for 25 MB 1-day pack and Rs 98 for 125 MB 1-week pack. The 3G mobile TV pricing will be 15 news channels viewing for Rs 150, 15 kids channels for Rs 150, five devotional channels for Rs 100 and mega pack of 75 channels for Rs 250 per month.
It also offers post-paid bundles starting from 50 MB data for 199 to 5 GB data for Rs 2,499 per month, which includes 6,000 voice minutes and 6,000 SMS‘. The prepaid bundles include 200 MB data for Rs 299 and 500 MB data for Rs 699 for 30 day validity, the company said.
"Our tariffs will be affordable, simple and transparent based on try and buy pricing proposition," Safawi added.
