The Hindu Business Line : `Karnataka has biggest Airtel subscriber base'

A big accretion of five lakh connections in the last three months has catapulted Karnataka to the number one position in subscriber base of Bharti Airtel, relegating Delhi, which had the largest subscriber base.

In fact, the telecom circles of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab with a combined subscriber base of close to seven million have proved to be faster growth centres for the company.

Karnataka with a three-million subscriber base and covering 62 per cent of the population, not only enjoys the number one position among the Bharti's networks, but also leads the GSM service providers in the State with a 36 per cent market share.

Mr Sanjay Kapoor, Joint President, Mobility Bharti Airtel Ltd, said on Tuesday that the growth was the customers testimony to its quality of service and a variety of user-friendly applications along with its wider reach through strong infrastructure.

Regional offices soon

Encouraged by the growth, the company has decided to establish regional offices in Mangalore, Hubli and Gulbarga, the high growth centres in the State, said Mr Atul Bindal, Executive Director, South Regional Hub, Mobility.

Mr Deepak Mehrotra, Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Airtel, Karnataka said an investment of about Rs 1,800 crore would be spent this year on sustaining the service and strengthening the infrastructure. Base stations are proposed to be increased by 500 to 3,000 to provide better coverage and customers facilities, he said. Mr Mehrotra said in the last one year, Airtel expanded its network to cover 12,000 towns and villages across the State, half of them with a population of less than 5,000. This included 96 per cent of the gram panchayat area and Airtel plans to augment its by 100 per cent by 2007.

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