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Airtel would also be building new capacities and special focus would be given on indoor coverage through `in-building solutions' at locations such as multiplex, malls, hospitals etc.

Pune , Sept. 23

BHARTI Tele-ventures is planning an investment of Rs 250 crore this fiscal in Maharashtra and Goa circle. It involves expansion of Airtel coverage to 300 new towns, introduction of NOW (network on wheels) and coverage over 13 national and state highways and two rail routes across Maharashtra and Goa.

Talking to newspersons, Mr Christopher Tobit, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, Maharashtra and Goa, said NOW, a self-sufficient mobile network that could be installed temporarily at any location within hours to avoid congestion on the network, would be deployed at five places across Maharashtra and Goa.

This easy-to-move 30-metre site, when fully extended and mounted on a vehicle, connects itself with any network through either VSAT or microwave technology.

Mr Tobit said Airtel would also be building new capacities in the existing coverage areas to cater to the increasing mobile traffic and special focus would be given on indoor coverage through `in-building solutions' at locations such as multiplex, malls, hospitals etc.

Extending coverage: Giving details about the expansion plans for the second half of the current fiscal, he said said Airtel would cover 300 new towns in Maharashtra and Goa circle, thus spanning the coverage to a total of around 550 towns and 33 districts from the present 280.

Airtel is also set to offer network in key tourist and pilgrimage destinations such as Shirdi, Trimbakeshwar, Mahabaleshwar, Shanishinganapur, Nanded, Pandharpur, Lonvla and Khandala.

Mr Tobit said the number of cell sites would touch 1,550 from the present 700 and the number of highways, which would have the network, would be ten from nine at present.

He said during the current fiscal, Airtel would be covering four additional highways namely Bhusawal-Shegaon, Dhule-Nashik, Dhule-Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai-Goa.

Moreover, it would also cover two additional rail routes, Mumbai-Goa and Vasai-Ahmbedabad by the end of March 2006.

Mr Tobit noted that Airtel, which was launched in these two circles in July 2002, has achieved the half-a-million subscriber mark within two years and was moving ahead with an eight-lakh subscriber base at present.

He added that Airtel has a 17.5 per cent revenue marketshare and was estimating to close the year with a turnover of Rs 450 crore.

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