Every 6th person in Himachal has a mobile

Posted on | November 26, 2006 |

With a population of more than 62 lakh (6+ mn), the number of mobile phones in north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh have grown to 11,21,431 (1+ mn).

According to the latest figures, until October this year,

Bharti Airtel = 468,667 customers
BSNL = 309,821 customers
Reliance Telecom = 108,915 customers
Tata = 64,386 customers
Reliance Infocomm = 63,841 customers
Idea = 5,801 customers

Mobile towers can be seen fast emerging atop ridges and hill tops. The mountainous and rugged terrain of the state make other forms of communication and means of transportation scarce and expensive.

With more and more players targeting the huge rural market of the hill state, there was a growing trend last year to surrender wired BSNL landline phones, which often remain out of order for long periods due to poor service by the state-run company.

Airtel was the first to launch mobile services in the state. Its network covers 55 towns and some 7,000 villages across the hill state. Airtel provides mobile services in the remote regions, where installing towers is not feasible, with the help of satellite technology.

“For ensuring a congestion-free network, the company has now over 500 cell sites all over the state, including those in some of the most inhospitable terrains of the country. For our towers in Sangla valley we’ve had to transport material on mules and ponies as there are no motor-able roads,” said Thayil. “We’ve also just started our high-speed Internet service in Shimla, Baddi, Dharamsala and Mandi towns.”

Sources: Business Standard and Tech2

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