BENGALURU: Idea Cellular on Thursday launched 4G service in Bengaluru and 38 other towns in Karnataka.

“Now we have 4G footprint in seven circles in India — Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana and Punjab,” said Ambrish Jain, deputy managing director, Idea Cellular.

Idea has enabled around 1,000 towers in Karnataka to offer the 4G service. “Around 600 of these towers are in Bengaluru. We’ll continue to expand these numbers with the increase in 4G users,” Jain told TOI.

Siva Ganapathi, chief operating officer of Karnataka circle, said 18 of the 39 towns in which they offer 4G is exclusive to Idea.”Currently, we are the only telecom player that offers 4G in these towns. We are covering 1.2 crore of Karnataka’s population under 4G network,” he added.

Idea said its subscribers can avail a free 4G sim card upgrade. The tariffs are at par with existing 3G plans. “We are offering a 4G trial pack at Rs 29. We have also tied up with leading content aggregators to provide music, videos and games through our 4G network,” said Rajat Mukherji, chief corporate affairs officer Idea Cellular.