Kolkata, the first city in India to get mobile telephony services way back in 1995, will now host the country's first research centre for 4th generation network technology, courtesy a Danish outfit.

Although even 3G networks have been set up in only a few places globally and India is still stuck at 2.5G, the world's telecom equipment majors are already looking ahead at 4G.

At present, 4G is a broad term covering 3G and beyond. But 4G technology will be required to serve new applications like mobile television, high-definition TV content, multimedia messaging and the availability of voice and data anywhere in the world.

In India, 3G networks will be ready within the next two years, allowing much faster and smoother transmission of heavy content like video clips and high-resolution photos and data.

At present, Indian mobile services run on 2G and 2.5G networks, in which the radio-wave bandwidth and data speed are not very comfortable with rich multimedia applications.

Denmark's Wireless Innovation Platform Labs (WIP), in association with Danish telecom companies and the Danish government, through the participation of Aalborg University, will set up the Rs 200-crore centre.