Basic phones, broadband from Bharti in UP East  ( July '8,2005, BS)

Bharti Tele Ventures has announced launching Airtel broadband and basic telephone services in the Uttar Pradesh (East) circle from Lucknow. The company will invest Rs 50 crore in Lucknow for commissioning its broadband and telephone services.

Formally launching the service, Rohtash Mal, chief executive officer of Bharti Tele Ventures, Central India, said the expansion would began with the rollout of the services starting from Lucknow.

The broadband services would soon be available in other big towns such as Kanpur, Agra and Meerut, the chief executive officer added.

On the launch, Mal said, “Bharti has always believed in offering its customers the best value.” Initially, the broadband service will be available only in the Trans-Gomti areas of Lucknow and will spread to other parts of the city soon.

Airtel broadband and telephone services have installed a state-of-the-art network in Lucknow with 35 km of optical fibre cable network and over 67 km of copper cable. The company has set up 10 exchanges in Lucknow and plans to set up 55 more.

By the end of this year, Airtel has plans to add 20,000 more lines for providing broadband and basic telephone services.

For these additional lines, the company will set up 45 new exchanges and lay a network of 200-km-long optical fibre cable.

Bharti Tele-Ventures is currently providing these services in seven circles--Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.