Tuesday, October 4 2005 17:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Airtel, a leading mobile services provider, today (Oct 4, 2005) announced a Rs 400 crore growth plan for Karnataka during 2005-2006 for expansion of its services.

"Airtel would expand its network and services to cover Maski, Ghataprabha, Kudalasangama, Kudchi, Dulakhed, Gurmitkal, Kiravatti and Lokapur in north Karnataka and Ribbonpet, Anandapuram, Nagarahole, Sathnur, Harohalli and Gandasi in south Karnataka," Atul Bindal, Executive Director, South Regional Hub, Mobility, Airtel, told reporters.

Airtel with a customer base of over 1.5 million was the largest mobile service operator in Karnataka, he said.

"By the end of 2005-2006, Airtel plans to reach out to about 45 per cent of the population in the state with a network spanning across 730 towns," Deepak Mehrotra, COO, Bharti Televentures Ltd, Karnataka, said.

Airtel would set up about 600 additional cell sites across the state, taking its cell site count to over 1,800 by the end of March next year, he said.

They said Airtel also planned to set up a 'Future Factory' here where a dedicated team would explore innovation and development of 'path breaking applications' for mobile customers across the country.

Future Factory would look at enhancing the user experience on Airtel Live using 3G, Mobile Entertainment and multi-media applications, they said.

Under the Mobile Commerce development programme, it would drive applications that use mobile phone as a payment instrument for ticketing, money transfer and other commerce transactions.