2013 is expected to be the rising of TD LTE aka 4G network in the country, as operators like Reliance Industries, Aircel, Tikona Wireless and Airtel, will be the first batch to offer 4G services in the country from mid next-year onwards. And reports suggest that users will be offered these services at an affordable price at the very beginning of the launch.
This means that the cost of 4G services is expected to be cheaper than 3G services. For example, Tikona has already said that per MB price on 4G networks will be just 2 to 10 paise, while 3G realisation price by Airtel is more than 50 paise, which translates to data costs of 4G services being five times cheaper than 3G.
However, the price of devices right now is a cause of concern as Airtel sells the 4G dongles in Kolkata, Bengaluru and Pune at Rs 4,999, which is very costly compared to average price of Rs 1,500 for a 3G dongle.
Reliance, which is the only PAN India 4G player, is expected to bring the device prices down dramatically. It is expected that there will be very little to no difference in prices of 3G and 4G devices when all the networks are rolled-out by the these operators. Already chipset players like Qualcomm, MediaTek have announced affordable TD LTE chipsets which will further help in reduction of prices of these devices.