Airtel announces mega network expansion plans

CHENNAI: Airtel yesterday announced plans to further

expand its mobile network in Tamil Nadu.






From a level of 1000 Cell sites in Mar'05, Airtel has moved up to 2400. The
number of Urban towns covered has doubled from 260 to 550 and the rural coverage

has gone up from 4000 to 10000 villages.






The switch handling capacity has been enhanced from 0.8 million to 2 million
customers. SMS capacity has been increased 5 times in this period, from 700 to

3500 messages per second.






Airtel
is embarking on an aggressive expansion plan this fiscal. Tamil Nadu is a key

market and Airtel's plan is to ensure that its customers continue to enjoy an

unmatched network experience.






The cell site count will go up from 2400 to over 4500 by March'07. In terms of
towns, Airtel will cover the entire Urban universe of about 800 towns by August

2006.






The rural coverage, currently about 10,000 villages, will also go up
substantially with this network expansion. The switch handling capacity will be

enhanced from 2 million to over 3 million customers.






The fastest growing segment in the market is the youth, for whom SMS is a way of
life. With SMSing becoming the preferred mode of communication at all times,

especially during festive occasions, special attention is required on this

service.






After the five-time growth in capacity last year, Airtel is further increasing
its SMS capacity to 4800 messages per second this year to ensure that its

customers continue to enjoy congestion free SMSing as well.






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