Airtel to improve rural reach

With fresh spectrum allocation, Airtel will increasingly focus on providing Edge connectivity and GPRS coverage to smaller towns and villages of West Bengal.

This is expected to further boost connectivity and mobile and broadband penetration in the state.

The capacity augmentation process would provide customers seamless connectivity and coverage with high quality voice clarity.

Airtel also plans to take its total cell sites upto 4,000 by end of March.

Airtel currently has over 3,800 cell sites in Kolkata, Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman.

The telecom ministry is giving away spectrum worth Rs 6,000-Rs 8,000 crore for a mere Rs 1,651 crore at a pan-India level.

India has 22 service areas, which had received between 25 and 31 applications each. Of these, only nine companies have received licences.

Going forward, Airtel hopes to connect new towns and villages with EDGE.

According to Ajai Puri, CEO - mobility, Kolkata and West Bengal, Bharti Airtel, said, "Over the last few months, Airtel has recorded significant customer growth as we continued to focus on providing affordable services. The recently opened Airtel Relationship Centers in various parts of Kolkata serve as new touch points in suburban areas aimed at providing instant service resolution and delivery as a result of the growing service requirements of our customers."

Airtel also launched the new Blackberry Pearl 8120, a new improved lifestyle accessory for the customer on the move.