NEW DELHI: It has been quite some time that the Indian telecom industry is talking about the fourth generation (4G) technology but is the market and the subscribers ready for it? Experts feel it will take another couple of years for 4G to gain steam and become a mass product and the ecosystem around it to mature.

So far only Bharti Airtel has launched 4G in India and Reliance Jio Infocomm is planning to launch it commercially in 2015. The technology (4G) is intended to provide wireless internet access at a much higher speed than 3G.

"4G launch is taking time in India. Availability of devices is a major concern. The readiness of eco-system is important, so is customer readiness. Perhaps the larger mass has not yet felt the need for 4G in India. It will take some more time to kick-off in India. Pricing will be an important factor as far as getting the mass market is concerned," Jaideep Ghosh, partner, KPMG Advisory Services, said.

"It will take at least another couple of years before we see LTE (Long Term Evolution) picking up at a faster rate in India - coverage, vast portfolio of affordable devices and right pricing will be key for growth," Rishi Tejpal, principal research analyst with Gartner, told IANS.

"Affordable service and device pricing will be very important in India. The early adopters will be very niche and small market. But for 4G to become mass market, the pricing should be at par with the 3G prices at that time. Charging a premium for LTE services will weaken the adoption rates and service uptake," he added.

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