Banking on an over 100 per cent growth in data usage and a “substantial” rise in voice revenues, Vodafone India is looking to ramp up its network presence here in West Bengal.
In telecom parlance, the state of West Bengal is divided into two circles – Kolkata and Rest of Bengal (RoB).
Currently, 18 per cent of Vodafone’s revenues in Kolkata and 5.5 per cent of the same in RoB is from data consumption. The company does not share circle-wise revenue details.
According to Anand Sahai, Business Head, Kolkata and RoB, Vodafone India, has over the last 12 months (July 2013 to June 2014) invested ` 440 crore here.
“Kolkata and Bengal remain one of the strong markets for Vodafone and accordingly, we have invested in network expansion here,” he told reporters here on Monday.
In terms of network expansion, the company has added nearly 1,000 sites in the State between April to September this year.
While 154 of these sites (100 for 3G and the remaining 2G-enabled ones) are in Kolkata; the majority of 826 (400 for 3G and 426 for 2G ) are in RoB.
Vodafone at present has 19 million customers in Bengal, of which 4.7 million are from Kolkata.