Aircel to add 200 new 3G sites, 20 towns by March in Odisha

The telecom operator has 4.4-mn customers base in the state

Telecom service provider Aircel plans to cover 20 new towns under its 3G network in Odisha by end of March next year as a part of its expansion plans in the state.

"We closed last year by providing 3G services in 10 towns. This year 22 new key towns have been added to the network and 2015 will be closed by providing 3G services in 35 towns," Rajiv Gupta , Business Head , Odisha , Aircel told media persons.

As part of expansion plan, we intend to cover 20 new towns in the first quarter itself in the next year. The names of the new towns are yet to be finalised, he added.

The towns covered , among others, include Bhubnaeswar, Puri, Berhampur, Jharasguda, Angul, Jajpur , Bhadrak and Bolangir.

Aircel has 4.4 million customers base in the state. Out of the total consumers about 55% of the Aircel's consumers are data users.

The telecom company has about 3,500 network sites comprising of 2G and 3G in the state and 1000 are 3G sites. We aim to add another 200 3G sites by March , 2016. Most of sites are on sharing basis, he added.

Aircel today announced the launch of affordable range data packs ranging from Rs 9 to Rs 398 for all its customers. With a recharge of Rs 9 per day the subscribers can enjoy 100 MB of data of 2G or 3G. Similarly, the Aircel consumers can enjoy 1GB, 3GB and 7.5 GB of 2G or 3G data for Rs 79, Rs 249 and Rs 398 respectively.

The telecom operator had launched 4G LTE services for B2B customers in earlier this year.The telecom operator enjoys 10.8% of revenue market share and consumer share of about 13% in the state.

In Odisha , the industry's monthly revenue hovers around Rs 3000 million and our share is 10.8%. The data revenue of Aircel has grown by 85% in 2015 compared to 2014, said Anshuman Mohapatra, Circle marketing head, Aircel.