Jio, BSNL Will Set Up More Than 1000 Towers In AP’s Tribal Areas

In order to boost connectivity in rural areas, both Jio and BSNL will be installing more than 1,000 mobile network towers in the Maoist-affected areas of the newly formed Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district in Andhra Pradesh within the next year.

This news was revealed by Satish Kumar, the Superintendent of Police (SP) in the region on Saturday. He said, “The mobile service providers are ready to establish 1,000 new mobile towers in tribal pocket hill areas. Jio is coming up with 700 towers. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is going to set up 300 towers in three phases in the next one year.”

There are 22 Mandals in the ASR district, most of which are in the tribal region, and just 20 to 25 percent of the residents have access to a mobile network. Due to fears that Maoists would torch these towers, mobile network operators have refrained from installing mobile towers in Maoist-affected areas. The places most impacted by the Maoists include GK Veedhi, Chintapalli, Pedabayalu, Munchingput, G Madugula, Hukumpeta, Dumbriguda, and Koyyuru.

The government is funding this initiative as well as others of a similar nature in an effort to provide 4G connectivity to isolated regions of the nation. For uncovered villages in aspirational districts, the government has earmarked a project of ₹3,683 crores to provide 4G mobile connections. Reliance Jio will roll out 3,696 towers for ₹2,836 crores, while Bharti Airtel will install 1,083 mobile towers in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for ₹847.95 crores.