Bharti to build more mobile towers in Delhi

Enlarge Photo The sun rises behind a communications tower in New Delhi March 20, 2006. REUTERS/B Mathur/Files

Thu, May 15 05:43 PM

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Bharti Airtel Ltd plans to expand its phone towers in Delhi by more than quarter this year to feed rapidly growing users, the leading mobile operator said on Thursday.

Bharti, which is in "exploratory" talks with South African mobile operator MTN, had 64.4 million users at end-April, including more than 4 million mobile users in the Delhi service area.

The company did not say how many towers it had in Delhi, but said it would build more to raise the total by 26 percent in the current fiscal year that ends in March 2009.

Rising incomes and growing number of people seeking opportunities have led to a surge in mobile users in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

But limited availability of airwaves or spectrum used for transmitting cell phone signals is straining networks, forcing operators to build mobile towers.

Analysts and media reports say Bharti's talks with MTN could lead to a merger or share swap with the South African firm that has presence in more than 20 countries.

Shares in Bharti closed up 0.9 percent at 856.20 rupees in a firm Mumbai market, extending Wednesday's 3.3 percent gain. However, the stock is down 4.2 percent since the MTN talks were first announced late on May 5.

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