Airtel expects 20 per cent growth in J&K

Bharti Airtel is expecting a 15 to 20 per cent growth in the J&K circle by the end of this financial year while the company has become the number one mobile servive provider in the state with more than 8 lakh mobile subscribers.

Chief Operating Officer of the Bharti Airtel Ltd, J&K, Vishal Sehgal told Business Standard here that the company is expecting about 15 to 20 per cent growth by the end of this financial year. He said the company will be releasing the actual figures in the first week of January.

Giving the rough figures, Sehgal said, "The company may register a a growth of around 20 per cent but anything between 15 to 20 per cent will be a safe figure to predict. The company has become number one in J&K in just three years of operation. We have achieved a customer base of 8 lakh subscribers in J&K and gone ahead of the BSNL," he added.

He disclosed that the company had nearly achieved the mark of 1,100 cell sites in J&K. It plans to touch 1,300 cell sites by the end of this financial year. It crossed a mark of 1,000 cell sites during just last month. "We started operations in 2004 with just 200 towers. In comparison, the BSNL is currently operating in J&K with just 400 plus towers while the other private cellular operator, Aircel, with nearly 260 towers. The company has a wider distribution network of over 100 distributors, 10,000 retail outlets and over 12,000 PCOs across the state."

Responding to a question, Sehgal said the Airtel network had now covered 20 districts out of 22 in the state. The company currently has a presence in 66 towns out of the total 75 including 3,500 villages.

He disclosed that in view of the home ministry and the TRAI directives, Airtel uprooted its nearly ten towers falling within 10 km range of the border belt in the state. Though the company suffered some losses, all such towers have been removed.

Announcing the launch of a celebration offer for the J&K customers from Dec 27, 2007 to January 27, 2008, he said in order to celebrate the leadership milestone with the customers in J&K, Airtel has introduced a 'super life time validity (SLTV)' recharge at less than half the standard price.

Under this offer , customers can get SLTV recharge at Rs 499 instead of Rs 999 as applicable across the country. The offer enables Airtel J&K customers to make all local calls at Re 1 for life. It is valid for one month only.

Sehgal disclosed that the company is shortly introducing Internet facility in the state. It has already installed the required equipment (GPRS) and raised the necessary infrastructure for the same. "We are just waiting for the approval from the Central telecom authorities," he added.