Uninor expanding in Andhra Pradesh

Details: James Barton; Category: Wireless Networks; 27 March 2014; 7002 views

Indian operator Uninor, a subsidiary of Telenor, is extending its coverage to the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The operator has 4.5 million subscribers in the state, and it is aiming to increase the number of base stations by 30% across the next three months, installing 550 new sites to bring the total to 3500. Coverage in the south-eastern state will be particularly boosted in the Vijayawada region.

Uninor is present in 6 of India’s 22 telecom circles, and successfully bid on extra 1800MHz spectrum in 4 of these at auction earlier this year (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar & Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh East and Uttar Pradesh West). The firm spent $136 million on the additional spectrum, but has increased its capacity for voice and data services in these areas by up to 25%.

After 4 years in the market, Uninor announced at the start of the year that it had broken even for the first time. It had achieved financial breakeven in 3 of its circles midway through last year and was reportedly on course to do so in its other circles. The operator has 32 million subscribers.