Indian 4G newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm will commence services on December 27, but only for employees - the commercial launch has been delayed until 2016.
The operator was widely expected to commence commercial services by the end of the year, but has now scaled back to a more limited launch plan, the Economic Timesreported.
Reliance Jio will instead offer services for free for employees across India, delaying the planned commercial launch into next year - expected to be in April or May.
It has now been more than five years since Reliance Industries acquired pan-India 4G spectrum by acquiring one of the winners of the 2010 BWA (broadband wireless access) auctions.
The company has since been rolling out a network across the nation and pursuing infrastructure sharing deals with incumbent operators.
The continued delay launching service has given incumbent operators including Bharti Airtel adequate time to prepare for Reliance Jio's entry into the market.
The launch is nevertheless expected to have a disruptive impact on the telecom sector, leading to continuing price pressure and more intense competition in data services.