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Reliance Jio and BSNL ink mobile tower sharing deal [Mail Today (India)](Mail Today (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) RIL's telecom arm to use 4,000 towers of state- run firm RELIANCE Jio Infocomm ( RJI), the telecom arm of Reliance Industries Limited ( RIL) has signed a deal for leasing 4,000 mobile towers from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ( BSNL). The public sector company will charge a base rate of ` 38,000 per month for ground towers and ` 24,900 per month for its rooftop towers. Discount offer BSNL, however, will offer discounted rates if RJI commits leasing of, at least, 1,500 towers in the first year, BSNL director ( consumer mobility) Anupam Shrivastava told news agency PTI. " There is also a provision of five- per cent discount if RJI commits leasing of, at least, 1,000 towers within three months. The rent for ground towers will be ` 35,000 per month and ` 21,000 per month for rooftop towers if Reliance Jio commits leasing of 1,500 towers in the first year, " he added. RJI, which did not respond to questions on the deal, already has an agreement with Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Viom Network, American Tower Company and Ascend Telecom Infrastructure to utilise their infrastructure as it gears up to launch its telecom services in the coming months. The company holds pan- India broadband wireless access ( BWA) spectrum, which can be used for 4G services. Besides, it won radio waves in the 1,800 MHz band, widely known as 2G spectrum, which is also being used for 4G services worldwide. RJI is the first telecom operator in the country to get a unified licence for all 22 service areas. The unified licence, which it received in October, will allow RJI to offer all kinds of telecom services, including voice telephony. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India ( CAG) had blamed the Department of Telecommunications ( DoT) for letting RJI monopolise the broadband and 4G sector by withdrawing state- owned companies BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited( MTNL). After RJI's entry, BSNL and MTNL withdrew from the broadband sector. This followed the Union Cabinet's approval for reimbursing fees for surrendering of 4G- BWA airwaves by BSNL and MTNL. These two companies were also granted BWA spectrum. In its communication to DoT, CAG had stated that this move will leave " virtually the entire field to a company that had not participated in the auction process". Many senior DoT officials had questioned the move by BSNL and MTNL to opt out of 4G BWA spectrum. But the two companies maintained that they do not see any benefit in retaining 4G spectrum. ( With PTI inputs). (c) 2014 India Today Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |