Aircel becomes first to sign tower sharing agreement with BSNL

Aircel today said it had  became the first mobile operator to sign a passive infrastructure sharing agreement with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

A part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, Aircel is India's fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 24 million and is the fastest growing mobile operator in the country.

Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel, said, "Aircel will now have access to strategically located sites across BSNL's 21 circles (excluding Mumbai & Delhi). Leveraging BSNL's passive infrastructure will help Aircel meet its aggressive network roll out plans in addition to reducing operational cost."

Aircel, which has approximately 32,000 base stations, will now have access to approximately 45,000 BSNL towers across all its circles.

Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL added, "BSNL has a strong nationwide coverage and offers the best value proposition in the Indian telecom market. Our objective is to provide quality and reliable service and thereby increase our partner's confidence".

The company said in a statement that as a significant portion of BSNL's sites are electrified, sharing these towers, coverin 96 per cent of all districts across the country, would help it  expand its footprint and time to market.