Aircel to add 13,000 mobile sites by end-2015

Mobile operator Aircel today said it will expand its network by adding 13,000 2G, 3G and 4G sites across the country by December 2015. The company, which has pan-India 2G operations, said the plan is in line with the growing demand for mobile services and to offer better customer experience, uninterrupted services and enhanced data speeds.

The company has 3G spectrum in 13 circles and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) or 4G airwaves in 8 circles.

As a part of the plan, Aircel has already rolled out close to 7,400 sites this year and has added approximately 2.2 million hours per day of voice capacity and 200TB/day of data capacity to its network, it said in a statement.

"Aircel consistently upgrades and optimises its existing network to increase capacity, achieve higher efficiency and reduce existing pressure on networks," the company said. The government has asked all mobile operators to invest in network capacity so as to check the call drops problem.

"Out of the 13,000 sites that will be rolled out, 5,300 sites are 2G and the remaining 7,700 are 3G and 4G sites combined. While the 3G sites are planned primarily in regions such as Chennai, TN, Kolkata, WB and Odisha; the focus for the 2G network expansion are regions such as Delhi, Bihar and Rajasthan to improve network performance," Aircel Chief Technology Officer Sameer Dave said.