Find us places to construct towers: Airtel asks customers

In a bid to beat the call drop menace, Bharti Airtel has written to its customers to help the company find suitable places to construct mobile towers in their localities.

"So, I want to take this opportunity to ask for your help. If you face significant call drops in your locality, can you help us find a location for a mobile site in the vicinity?," Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Airtel, said in personalised letters to the customers.

The company said it had to shut down many of its sites due to misplaced fear of radiation.

"We are also committed to making requisite investments in additional sites to leverage this spectrum. But we have to physically install these sites," Vittal said.

"While we already make every possible effort to make this happen, placing sites has become a serious problem in most cities due to misplaced fears of the impact of sites and air waves," he added.

He also mentioned the fact that India operates under the strictest norms for mobile towers. "Our emission standards are one tenth that of global averages - and much more stringent that even Europe!"

He added: "We have invested heavily behind spectrum. In the last two years, we have invested over Rs.50,000 crore on spectrum to ensure you enjoy a great network experience. We will continue to augment any additional spectrum needs as and when an auction takes place."