Airtel to focus on rural expansion

Airtel plans to expand its coverage in Karnataka this year with a special focus on rural centres.

The company, presently covers 15,000 towns and villages in addition to 260 urban centres in the state and aims to increase its penetration to 20,000 towns and villages in 2007-08.

According to Deepak Mehrotra, director-South, mobility, Bharti Airtel Ltd, the company intends to expand its coverage in the state by reaching out to the remotest corners.

Airtel added 2.2 million customers in Karnataka to its network in 2006-07, taking the total to 4.27 million. With this, Airtel's marketshare in Karnataka has gone up from 32 per cent to 38 per cent.

During the present financial year, Airtel will focus on strengthening and expanding coverage mainly in northern districts of the state with special focus on rural and semi-urban towns, Venkatesh V, CEO, mobile services, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Karnataka circle, told reporters, here today.

He said Airtel will also increase the number of outlets to sell their products from the present 47,000 to 60,000 outlets during this year. The distribution network will also be raised to 14,000 from the present 600 this year, he added.

Bharti Airtel is investing $3.5 billion across the country to expand its network in 2007-08. It will add 30,000 new cell towers this year, Mehrotra said adding that Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh would get high priority.