3G
On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Idea paid 5768.59 crores for spectrum in 11 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West).
On 28 March 2011, Idea launched 3G services in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The launch cities were Ahmedabad, Shimla and Indore. This makes Idea the sixth private operator (eighth overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Tata Docomo, Reliance Communications, Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone.
Idea currently supports up to 21.1 Mbit/s over 2G speeds of 256 kbit/s. However, different handsets support different speeds, from 384 kbit/s, 3.6 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s or 21.1 Mbit/s. Speeds also depend on the 3G plan/recharge that users opt for.
The operator announced that IDEA 3G services will be available in 200 towns of 11 3G circles by mid-April 2011, progressively growing at the rate of ten towns per day to cover 750 towns by mid-2011 and 4000 towns by the end of 2012.
Idea cellular has announced a cut of 70% in the tariff of its 3G services.
On 23 November 2011 Idea Cellular launched two affordable 3G handsets in India: Idea 3G Smartphone Blade priced at 7,992 and Idea 3G Smartphone priced at 5,850. Both handsets are based on Android 2.2 Froyo.
Idea has also launched a Dual-SIM Android smartphone in India on June 15, 2012 named as Idea ID-918 at a price point of Rs.5,994 ($108 approx.) It features Android v2.3 OS, 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 3G, Wi-Fi and 3.2 MP rear facing camera.
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