Bharti Tele-Ventures'' Rs 2,000-crore expansion plan

Bangalore: Bharti Tele-Ventures yesterday unveiled a Rs 2,000-crore plan, which includes providing mobile services in six more circles and expansion of network in 1,000 new towns.

The Bharti Tele-Ventures President, Mobility, Mr Manoj Kohli, told press persons that Bharti would roll out services in J & K, UP-East, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Rajasthan during the next fiscal. He said AirTel, Bharti''s mobile services brand, would expand its services to 1,000 more towns during 2004-05, out of which 300 more towns will be added in six new circles.

Mr Manoj added that with the addition of six more circles, AirTel would be operational in a total of 21 circles. AirTel will also provide connectivity to 20,000 new villages by the end of this fiscal. He said network capacity would be scaled up to 11 million subscribers from six million currently. The scaled-up network will be capable of handling four billion call minutes per month from two billion call minutes per month. "By investing before time, we have ensured that subscribers will not have problems with our network," Mr Kohli said.