Reaching out

Existing: l2200 cell sites in Bengal in 2006-07 Coverage: 1000 towns and 25,000 villages Investment over Rs 450 crore Next quarter plans: 1000 cell sites Coverage: Another 400 to 500 towns In-building solutions to come up in Haldia, Siliguri, Durgapur

Calcutta, March 18: Call drops, network congestion and no coverage black spots will become a thing of the past for Airtel subscribers.

The company is set to embark on one of its most aggressive network expansion plans in Bengal by adding 1,000 sites in the next quarter.

From only 1,000 cell sites at the beginning of 2006-07, the company has already doubled its cell sites to 2,200 at an investment of over Rs 450 crore.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) latest report on congestion levels and quality of service (QoS) reveals that Bengal and Calcutta are among the worst affected in the country.

In Bengal, private mobile operators rarely share infrastructure among themselves or with BSNL, which leads to high congestion levels, call drops (when the line gets disconnected while talking) and black spots (no coverage).

“Considering the demand, we added 1,100 cell sites last fiscal. And in the next four months, we plan to add the same amount. This would entail an incremental coverage expansion of 400 to 500 towns,” said Ajay Puri, CEO (mobility) of Bharti Airtel, Bengal.

Nokia provides the technology for network management to Airtel in the state.

In February 2007, the company added around 70 sites in Nadia, Purulia, Midnapore, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Haldia, Asansol and Siliguri.

As part of Airtel’s in-building solutions (IBS) for enhanced indoor coverage in buildings of importance such as hospitals, airports and Eden Gardens, around 120 buildings have been covered in Calcutta.

In the next quarter, Puri said the IBS will be rolled out in key buildings of other towns in the state such as Haldia, Siliguri and Durgapur.

“The existing capacity of sites would be boosted through a technology of special trans-receiver or TRX at each site to accommodate more calls and data download as our customer base widens,” Puri added.

Andaman Islands, where Airtel was the first private operator to commence services, would also be part of this network enhancement plan.

Another solution offered by Airtel is the coverage on wheels (CoW), which is a mobile base transceiver station, or BTS tower. Airtel has four such mobile BTS and the number is set to increase to another four, each costing about Rs 1 crore in the next quarter.