Airtel has confirmed in a press release that they have plans to launch 3G services in India by the end of the year 2010. However no details have been shared regarding the tariff details, the services they plan to offer to 3G subscribers, launch dates, launch circle, etc. Airtel has been tight lipped about their 3G offering till now. This being said, I have managed to get hold of the 3G services which Airtel might offer to its 3G subscribers. Check out the exclusive images of Airtel 3G wap page published especially for the readers of TechVorm!
Airtel 3G Wap Homepage:
The wap homepage of Airtel 3G know by the name 3G zone as of moment offers:
- Live TV viewing,
- Movies on demand,
- Videos,
- Games (Including multi-player gaming),
- Music download,
- Movie Reviews, etc.
Since this wap page hasn’t been officially released and I managed to access it therefore chances of Airtel making some alterations to these services are there. But one thing for sure is that video streaming will dominate as well as music downloads!
Airtel Live TV Application:
The application being offered to download for live tv viewing seems to be the same as the current one. The application is for symbian running devices only (I hope the come up for Android, iPhone and Blackberry soon). Installation and UI of Airtel TV mobile application were the same as of the current one. Am hoping the quality of live video feed isn’t the same as it is being delivered currently :p
Airtel Video Talkies:
The second banner (on the top) on the Airtel 3G wap page says “watch your favorite movies”. A great attraction for “to be” 3G users, no doubt. While browsing the movies section, I found the archive to be a limited one with few movies though I believe more will be added soon. You are offered either to download the clips or entire movie (which is totally weird). What’s more interesting is the clips are just under 14 MB in size even if downloaded in high quality which in terms of quality is well below the 3G standards. Though there’s an option to stream these videos but I think only streaming should be allowed. Anyways, providing the option to watch movies on your mobile is intimidating!
3G Gaming:
Having used EDGE and GPRS only, I am yet to get acquainted with the concept of gaming over 3G. I have no doubts that multi-player gaming over 3G will be exciting but the concern is how successful will it be amongst the Indian mobile phone users keeping in mind high 3G tariff rates, gaming costs (There will be charges, at-least I think so) as well as 3G compaitble handsets, good mobile phone deals of which are available! A nice concept nonetheless.
Full Song Download Over 3G:
With the introduction of 3G services not only will you be able to watch live streaming as well as videos (movies) on demand, possibility of downloading full songs over 3G is there too! The reason for using the word “possibility” is that Airtel hasn’t launched all these services officially nor it has advertised about them in any way. Anyway, Full songs are available for download. When i tried to download a songs from their repository I was immediately charged Rs. 10. I’d say expensive considering the fact that the quality of songs was below average (Sorry but couldn’t find out the bitrate).
The above mentioned service are the one’s I think will make it big when Airtel launches 3G services. There were more services on offering at Airtel 3G zone wap page.
Check out the images below to get an idea as to what is in store for you once 3G is launched!
Are you able to connect and use 3G on Airtel?
Some times its automatically connecting and disconnecting immediatly after 5-10sec.
Airtel is emitting 3G signal’s however am not able to register with their network. You can try to do so by selecting “UMTS” mode in your mobile phone and then manually searching for Airtel 3G network. Do reply if you get it working 🙂
how can i activate 3G on my airtel card…
email me on [email protected] of any replies