RJIL to use RCom's city fiber infrastructure for 4G rollout

Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) has intensified preparations for the roll out of the 4th generation of mobile communications technology. The company has just announced entering into another infrastructure sharing agreement with Reliance Communications - a move that is going to help accelerate rollout of its 4G services across the country.

Under the tie up, Reliance Jio Infocomm will utilise RCom’s nationwide intra-city fiber network for accelerated roll-out of its 4G services across the country. The agreement is based on arm’s length pricing at prevailing market prices. RCom’s intra-city optic fiber network extends to nearly 500,000 fiber pair kilometres, across more than 300 cities and towns in India.

Recently, Reliance Jio had tied up with Bharti Airtel, telecom infrastructure sharing arrangement under which the two companies will share infrastructure created by both parties. The infrastructure sharing includes optic fibre network – inter and intra city, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services and more.

It’s notable Reliance Jio is the only company to have pan-India 4G licence. Bharti Airtel has already launched 4G in select circles. We are expecting some major announcement in the 4G later this year.

That said, Reliance Jio is apparently making serious efforts to make its 4G venture successful. Developing a 4G eco-system in India is a huge task for any player. The new tie ups are certainly going to help the company roll out 4G sooner in the country.