Cell site sharing

Posted on | September 21, 2006 |

Reliance Communications is in talks with Bharti Airtel, Hutchison-Essar and Idea Cellular for an alliance to share infrastructure across the country.

Industry experts say that about 25% to 35% of all cell sites in India can be shared at least by two operators. Its argued that the cost savings both in terms of capex as well as operating costs can be substantial in the next one to two years.

• There are over 70,000 cell sites all across the country
• Bharti Airtel has over 25,000 cell sites
• Reliance Communications has over 20,000 cell sites
• Setting up of a cell site costs around Rs 30 lakh
• Operating costs varies between Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 per site, depending on the rents in cities

The experiment, started with 60 sites in Delhi, is now being extended to Mumbai and other key cities in India.

Source: Business Standard

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