India’s Bharti Airtel to expand its base in SAARC countries

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Leading Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel has announced its prospects of expanding its base in various SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries with Bangladesh being the first step towards this direction.

The SAARC includes eight countries — India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. According to Akhil Gupta, the deputy group chief executive officer of the Bharti Enterprises, the company is very much interested in Bangladesh and other SAARC countries and on the auction of 3G spectrum, he hoped that it takes place on the scheduled time of January 14, 2010.

With over 110 million subscribers of the total 520 million and a market share of around 20 percent, Airtel continues to be the market leader.