The Hindu Business Line : Airtel to focus on rural expansion

Madurai, May 13 Airtel, the leading mobile service provider, has planned to increase the pace of its network expansion in rural Tamil Nadu during 2008-09.

The network has already covered over 88 per cent of the 15,500 census villages in the State and during 2008-09, the remaining villages would be covered, according to Mr Rajiv Rajagopal, Chief Executive Officer of Tamil Nadu Mobile Services Bharti Airtel Ltd.

People in the rural markets are ready to go mobile and the growth depends on the strength and the quality of the network. Distribution has been growing at a rapid pace and Airtel will be in easy reach for all customers in the State. “We want to increase the brand presence and become far more local,” he said addressing a press meet here on Tuesday.

Specifically, the network is on its way to extend its coverage to urban areas in major districts in South Tamil Nadu and the rural network is being expanded from 2,800 villages to 3,307, accounting for over 85 per cent of the population in these districts, he explained.

Speaking further, he said the network has spread over 93 per cent along the National Highways and 88 per cent of key rail routes across the State . Aggressive efforts are on to provide a superior network service that is congestion-free and to help customers get connected the first time. Also, the SMS capacity is sought to be raised from the current 5,500 messages per second to 6,500 messages per second by March 2009.

More Stories on : Rural Marketing | Telecommunications | Tamil Nadu

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