Airtel in Rs 27 cr UP expansion

Bharti Cellular Ltd today announced its plans to roll out services in 26 new towns and 6 new state highways in the Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttaranchal circle by December.

The company will invest Rs 27 crore for the rollout. The company also announced a host of incentives for subscribers in these circles under the Airtel-UP ONE package.

Announcing this, Sanjay Nandrajog, director and chief executive officer, Bharti Cellular Services, North Central Region said, "Today, Uttar Pradesh (West), Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh (East) stand as great potential markets for us and with the introduction of UP ONE, we are sure of replicating the success of Airtel across the country in these markets."

Airtel has already invested Rs 76 crore in UP (West) and Uttaranchal in the current fiscal, taking its total investment in the region to Rs 250 crore.

The company will install over 120 new cell sites as part of its expansion plans, thus taking the total number of cell sites to 505 in the region by November.

The new towns that the company will cover include Pinkhua City, Amroha, Milak, Bijnore, Nagina, Dhampur, Najibabad, Kotdwar, Laksar, Baghpat, Barot, Selakui, Herbertpur, Vikasnagar, Sitarganj, Tankpur, Banbasa, Khatima, Pantnagar, Nankmatta, Sikandrabad, Etawah, Ramrajya, Meerapur, Govardhan and Hastinapur.

The company also announced its plans connect six state highways: Muzzafarnagar to Bijnore, Bijnore to Nagina, Nagina to Najibabad, Nagina to Dhampur, Baghpat to Baraut, Bulandshar to Sikandrabad.

"The expansion of the existing network will now provide seamless connectivity across over 280 towns in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal," a company release said.

Under the UP ONE initiative, Airtel subscribers in will now be able to make calls to one specific number in Uttar Pradesh (East) at reduced rates.

Roaming to Uttar Pradesh (East) will also become 42 per cent cheaper for the Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttaranchal subscribers of Airtel.