Shillong, July 30: Bharti Airtel Limited today rolled out 4G trials exclusively for its customers here.

With this launch, customers in Shillong were the first in the Northeast to experience "superfast" 4G speed.

Commenting on the launch of Airtel 4G trials, Saurabh Goel, chief executive officer (Assam and Northeast), Bharti Airtel Limited, said, "As customers in India show an increasing propensity for consuming data services, we at Airtel are excited to take the lead in introducing the market to the power of blazing 4G speeds. Today, as we launch Airtel 4G trials for our existing customers in Shillong, they will be uniquely positioned for a superlative 4G experience. We are committed to building a world class 4G network in the region."

Asked when the telecom major would introduce 4G in Assam, an Airtel official in Guwahati said, "We attained the 4G spectrum licence for Assam in February this year only after the auction and the process of configuration and other technical work will take about a year. So, hopefully by late next year, Assam should have 4G services."

Another telecom service provider, Aircel, had introduced 4G services in Assam last year.

Airtel 4G enables superfast internet speed and allows customers to enjoy high-definition video streaming with "zero" buffering, downloading up to 10 movies in less than 30 minutes, uploading entire photo albums in less than five minutes, that is, uploading two high resolution photos per second, connecting multiple devices without compromising on the experience.

Airtel has also announced go-to-market partnerships with Samsung and Flipkart for 4G devices.

As part of the trial offer, Airtel customers in Shillong can now avail of a complimentary upgrade to Airtel 4G at 3G prices and experience blazing Airtel 4G speed.

"The company will assimilate valuable customer feedback from these early adopters and leverage the initial market response towards strengthening its service experience, thus building a world class 4G network infrastructure in these cities," a statement from the telecom giant said.

To avail of the complimentary 4G upgrade and experience mobile internet speed, existing Airtel customers with 4G-ready mobile devices can walk into their nearest Airtel store in Khyndailad (Police Bazar), Shillong and switch to a 4G SIM or visit the Airtel website for further information.

In April 2012, Airtel had launched India's first 4G services in Calcutta. Airtel's 4G services are now available in various places across India.

At the same time, 4G trials have been launched for existing Airtel customers in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and a host of other cities and towns.