Vodafone has since long announced the launch of its 4G services in the country and has only rolled it out in Kochi in Kerala and Mysore in Karnataka. The metros still lack the reception of high-speed internet, currently dominated by Airtel.
Vodafone has started the distribution of 4G sim cards to its customers in Delhi & NCR as a part of the conversion initiative from 3G to 4G.
With 10 Million customers in its kitty, it hopes to have maximum conversion till the official roll out in March 2016. This is a good news for Vodafone subscribers who have been eagerly waiting to access high speed internet on their 4G ready devices.
Apoorva Mehrotra, Business Head-Delhi & NCR at Vodafone India, talked about the introduction of 4G sim cards in exchange of their existing sim cards, “We want to make the transition to 4G smooth and seamless for our 10 million customers in Delhi & NCR. We want them to be 4G-ready so that they start experiencing the benefits of high speed mobile Internet services as soon as they are launched commercially.”
While it may not be mandatory for a user to switch to a new sim card which is 4G ready, the customers who accept will be rewarded with 1GB of free 4G internet on their device at the time of launch. Apoorva Mehrotra also mentioned that an official statement will be released soon to let people know of the official launch of the service. The 4G ready sim card will be given free in exchange of the subscriber’s existing sim card. The service is expected to be launched in Delhi & NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru by March 2016.
How Customers can switch to a 4G-ready SIM
- Walk in to any nearby Vodafone Store and place your request for 4G-Ready SIM
- After proper identification process & 4G enabled handset compatibility check, you will receive the new 4G-SIM card.
- To activate the card, use your existing Vodafone number to SMS ‘SIMEX <your 19-20 digit new 4G SIM card number>’ to 55199
- You will receive a response SMS from 55199 with partial SIM number entered
- Please send the last 6 digits of the new SIM number to 55199 within 2 hours of receiving the SMS mentioned in the above step
- You will receive a success SMS, post which your 4G-Ready SIM will be activated within 5-10 minutes.
- Subsequently, replace your old SIM in the handset with the new 4G-Ready SIM and continue to enjoy uninterrupted Vodafone services.
- You will enjoy benefits of high speed 4G services as soon as they are launched commercially.
If you remember, Vodafone had launched the 4G services in Mysore and Kochi on 1800 MHz band, which is more efficient than the 2300 MHz band. Vodafone plans to have superior connectivity and extremely high speeds through this band and has taken steps to ensure the same.
Only time will tell how Vodafone fairs against its competitors, but for now Airtel is already way ahead in the race.
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