Airtel to add 4400 new sites, additional 1500 kms of optic fibre in Odisha this fiscal

Biznext Bureau

Bhubaneswar:  India’s largest Telecom Operator Airtel today announced a massive network expansion plan –Project LEAP. As part of the project, the company would add 4,400 new sites in FY 2018-19, along with an addition of 1,500 kms of optic fibre in Odisha. While stepping up the data capacities and taking services deeper into rural and unconnected areas, the massive roll-out would mean addition of 1 new site every two hours to Airtel’s future-ready network in the state of Odisha.

“We will continue to invest aggressively in the region and expand our network capabilities with over 15,600 sites by the end of this financial year. As we have already covered all the Urban and Semi-Urban areas of the state, our focus will be on penetrating the uncovered rural pockets” Siddharth Motiwale, Chief Operating Officer – Odisha, Bharti Airtel said.

The expansion plan for FY 2018-19 follows a fruitful FY 2017-18 which saw 3660 new sites being deployed and more than 500 kms of optic fiber being rolled out in Odisha, extending its mobile broadband footprint to53,500 towns and villages.

With this planned roll-out, number of Airtel’s mobile sites in Odisha would go up by 40% to 15,600, further enhancing the speeds and voice qualities. The addition of fresh optic fiber would extend its fiber backbone to 9,500 kms, supporting the growth of high speed data services in the region.