Airtel commits significant investment to expand network in Assam and North East

24th March, 2018

Plans to rollout 6,000 new mobile sites along with 3,000 km of optic fiber to further strengthen its mobile broadband footprint in the region
o The rollout will translate to 16 new mobile sites being deployed per day, taking the total number of Airtel sites in the region to 25,000
o Will create large capacity to serve the booming demand for high speed data and connecting underserved areas
o Airtel is the #1 operator across Assam and North East, trusted by over 12.4 million customers

Guwahati, Shillong, Itanagar, Imphal, Agartala, March 22, 2018: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications service provider, today said that it will continue to make significant investments to further expand its operations and network footprint across Assam and North East.

As part of its network transformation program - Project Leap, Airtel plans to roll out 6000 new mobile sites across the region in FY 2018-19 with the aim of stepping up network capacity and taking services deeper into rural and unconnected areas. This rollout will effectively translate to deployment of 16 new Airtel mobile sites per day across the region.

With this planned rollout, the number of Airtel’s mobile sites across Assam and NESA will go up by 31% to 25,000 and considerably enhance the network experience for customers. Airtel also plans to deploy 3000 km of fresh optic fiber in the region to take its fiber footprint to 16000 km. The addition of fresh fiber capacity will support the growth of high speed data services in the region.

Raveendra Desai, CEO, Airtel North East & Assam said, “Assam and North East are a key markets for Airtel and we remain fully committed to bringing innovative and best-in-class services to our customers in the region. We will continue to invest aggressively in these markets to build a future ready data network and expand our coverage to unconnected, underserved regions, and contribute to the Government’s ‘Digital India’ vision.”

Airtel continues to be the #1 operator across Assam and North East and is trusted by over 12.4 million customers. It was the first operator to launch 3G and 4G services in the region. Airtel’s network umbrella in the region covers all key urban, semi urban and rural areas including highways, tourist destinations and trade centers. It has the widest network footprint with network coverage even in remote locations like Lumla (Arunachal Pradesh), Tuipang (Mizoram), Dawki (Meghalaya) and Longwa (Nagaland).

In December 2017, Airtel had signed an agreement with the Department of Telecom (Govt. of India) and Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for provision of mobile services in identified uncovered villages and national highways in the North Eastern States of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Under the agreement, Airtel will set up over 2000 mobile towers/sites in unconnected pockets of the region and deliver telecom connectivity to citizens in over 2100 villages over 18 months.