The government has reportedly invited tenders for setting up around 150 mobile towers in tribal areas in Visakhapatnam. The move is aimed at providing better connectivity in tribal areas.
The Visakhapatnam Agency area has a population of around 500,000 across 11 mandals with most mandal headquarters connected via the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) network.
In the recent past, Reliance Jio has set up towers in the area. As per industry sources, now Airtel is also planning to set up one tower in each mandal headquarters by sharing towers with BSNL.
BSNL, in collaboration with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), had planned to set up 60 cell towers across the tribal belt through a private agency. It has already set up 39 towers and is identifying spaces for the remaining.
