Airtel soft launches 4G in Mumbai; offers at '3G rates' to existing customers

Telecom major Airtel today started trial of 4G service in Mumbai and has partnered Flipkart to sell the service bundled with the devices of brands like Xiaomi, Motorola, Lenovo, Asus and Huawei.

The company has also partnered with Samsung India.

Under the partnership with the South Korean handset maker, both the companies will promote each others' 4G offerings at their respective outlets.

On 4G trial in Mumbai, the company said the service will be offered to its existing 3G customers at 3G rates.

"We want our existing customers to be the first ones to enjoy the Airtel 4G experience and are offering them a free upgrade to Airtel 4G at the same price as 3G," Gujarat Ashok Ganapathy Bharti Airtel CEO for Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa said in a statement.

The company will use the trial to gather customer feedback about the quality of its 4G service.

Meanwhile, Samsung is looking at launching new core prime 4G mobile smartphone in Airtel 4G markets.

Bharti Airtel will also soon bundle its 4G sim with devices of brands like Xiaomi, Motorola, Lenovo, Asus and Huawei to be exclusively sold at Flipkart.