Airtel plans to penetrate deep into Andaman

Port Blair. Mar 29: Airtel, one of country's leading private telecom operator, is going to connect Hutbay, the southernmost Islands of Andaman Group of Islands by April.

Till now Airtel's presence was restricted to the Northern, Middle and Southern Andaman region, except Hut Bay Islands, which was deadly hit by 2004 tsunami. Presently, Airtel has no network in the entire Nicobar Group of Islands, which were located next to Andaman Group. In the Rs 50 crore mobile market in thr A&N, Airtel reportedly had 40 per cent market share, few notches below the state-owned BSNL. ''By April, we will be in Hut Bay Island,'' a senior official told media persons here.

BSNL, the public sector telecom unit, has the deepest penetration in these Islands, connecting almost all the inhabited islands.

In the coming days, Airtel was also planning to connect the remote Nicobar Group of Islands too, with its network.

UNI