Holy place of Badrinath to have Reliance connectivity

Lucknow, May 8 (UNI) Lakhs of pilgrims visiting Badrinath shrine in Uttaranchal every year will soon have telecom connectivity of Reliance which would be the first Indian private telecom operator to launch its mobile services at Badrinath.

The network is ready for service and a commercial launch is expected later this month, company sources said here today.

Kedarnath is next in line where work is in full progress despite heavy snowfall and inclement weather.

The Badrinath launch will prove to be a boon for locals as well as pilgrims visiting the holy shrine which hitherto doesn't have reliable connectivity to offer them. Several lakh people are estimated to visit the holy shrine between the May-October peak season.

The holy town was awaiting this launch ever since the Reliance-ADA Group Chairman Mr Anil Dhirubhai Ambani had, during his last visit to the shrine, announced that it will soon get Reliance connectivity. Mr Ambani had made sure his technical team didn't take more than 15 days to complete this task.

With the Badrinath launch, Reliance Infocomm Ltd is now operating in 232 towns of UP West Circle and 216 towns of UP East Circle in the two states of Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.

In Uttaranchal, the company has already covered majority of places of tourist and religious importance including Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Gopeshawar, Kotdwar, New Tehri, Chamba and Dunda recently.

With its pan-India CDMA 2000 1X network, Reliance Infocomm provides Internet Access to its users through Reliance IndiaMobile, FWP and the R-Connect Card.

After launch in Badrinath, remaining tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, including the difficult-to-access areas like Kedarnath, will soon be brought under the Reliance IndiaMobile network as part of the company's largest network expansion in the country.

Besides this, India's largest mobile services provider Reliance Infocomm will cover 23 National Highways, 51 state highways and 13 railway routes in the two states.

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