Vodafone to add 1,700 3G tower sites in Delhi in 1 year

Company betting big on 3G to shore up its data revenues as it has no fourth generation (4G) services

Telecom major Vodafone India is planning to add 1,700 3G tower sites in Delhi and NCR in the next 12 months to strengthen its infrastructure in the region.

"We have 8,300 sites at present and planning to expand to 10,000 sites in the next one year. Current population coverage in Delhi is 100%," Vodafone India Business Head (Delhi) Subrat Padhi told PTI.

The company is betting big on 3G to shore up its data revenues as it has no fourth generation (4G) services.

Last year, it had slashed the 3G tariffs by up to 80% to make it more affordable.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2013, the company saw an increase in mobile Internet usage by 29% as against the previous quarter, due to increased number of data (Internet) customers and higher usage per subscriber, particularly among 3G users.

The active data customers for the company totalled 41.2 million, including approximately 3.7 million 3G subscribers across the country during the period.

The number of subscribers in Delhi could not be ascertained.