Airtel crosses 8 lakh customer mark in J

Jammu, Dec 26 (UNI) Riding on its ''consumer oriented'' plans, private telecom giant Bharti Airtel Ltd has crossed the landmark the eight lakh customers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Having launched its mobile services on October 20, 2004, the Airtel has surpassed its public competitor the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in mass base with 800,270 customers against 790,369 of the latter.

With an aim at deeper penetration into rural areas, the company plans to add 300 more cell cites to its existing strength of 1,000 till March 2008.

Announcing the landmark at a press conference, Bharti Airtel COO Vishal Sehgal said the entry of Airtel has led to the expansion of the telecom market in the state and also provided more choice to the customers.

He attributed the success to the state-of-the-art network of the Airtel and said, ''The customer service with customised call centers in Dogri and Kashmiri have been the key drivers of customer satisfaction and trust.'' UNI VJ PDT RAI2001