Airtel Says It Deployed 72,000 Base Stations Last Year

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has infused more than Rs. 30,000 crores in the last two years on boosting its network infrastructure.

"... we have invested over Rs. 300 billion over the past 2 years in adding new base stations and modernising our network infrastructure," Bharti Airtel said in its 'India Sustainability Report 2017' released on Monday.

The telecom major said it deployed over 72,000 network base stations in 2016-17, in addition to the already functional sites of around 2.7 lakh.

"80 percent of the sites launched in 2016-17 were high-speed broadband sites," the report said.

The company said it is installing renewable energy technology gradually across its several mobile tower sites which has led to a reduction in carbon emission from its network and saving of diesel consumption.

"In FY 2016-17, our energy saving initiatives have resulted in saving 1800MWh units of electricity and 23 percent of reduction in carbon-dioxide emission per square feet.

Our reliance on diesel has dropped to 15 percent of the total electricity usage," the report said.

Airtel said it is committed to reduce carbon footprint by 70 percent by 2020.