In a bid to compete with Airtel, which will be launching its 4G services commercially in 296 towns and cities in India, Vodafone recently announced that it will now be offering double data on pre-paid data recharge packs, effectively bringing down the prices of its data offering to nearly half.

Presently, this offer will be available only in Mumbai, but it is expected to be launched across India.

The announcement has come on the same day as Airtel’s 4G launch. Telecom operator Airtel is offering 4G speeds at the same rate as 3G.

Ishmeet Singh, Business Head-Mumbai, Vodafone India told Trak.in,“This offer is our way of gratifying our pre-paid customers for choosing Vodafone as their preferred mobile internet provider. We are offering them double value and encouraging new data users to explore the wonders of the internet using Vodafone’s better 3G service.”

Singh also confirmed in the report that Vodafone will be launching 4G services by the end of the year.

At the 4G auctions held earlier in the year, Vodafone had bagged nearly 5 MHz of spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band for Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karnataka and Kerala. Vodafone is currently conducting 4G trials in all these 5 circles.

Another competitor Reliance Jio is also approaching the market aggressively in 4G services arena, both in terms of offerings and as well as price.