MTS, India’s third CDMA mobile service provider, will launch its upgraded network which will support data speeds up to 14.7 Mbps, starting from Rajasthan, in the next couple of months.
“MTS has already started the trial of the latest CDMA Rev B network and is expected to launch the services starting from Rajasthan in couple of months” says Leonid Musatov, chief operating officer, MTS India.
This move will put MTS directly in competition with the 3G (GSM) operators in the country. Currently GSM 3G operators are offering speeds in the categories of 3.6 Mbps, 7.2 Mbps (most mobiles support maximum of 7.2 Mbps only), and 21.1 Mbps maximum (most operators are not offering this speed).
Currently MTS network uses CDMA Rev A (in 100 + cities) which allows it to offer 3.2 Mbps speed. With this upgrade, MTS will deliver speeds for 7-8 Mbps (though technically higher speeds up to 14.7 Mbps are possible).
MTS is also planning to price its data plans cheaper than the 3G competitors, as it doesn’t need to pay heavy price for the 3G spectrum that the GSM operators had to pay during the recently held auctions.
However this move might be opposed by the GSM operators as they had to sell out additional amount to offer 3G speeds.