Reliance Jio Infocomm, a part of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), on Friday, entered into a definitive agreement with Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) for sharing the latter’s nationwide telecom tower infrastructure.
Reliance Jio will utilise up to 45,000 ground and rooftop-based towers across RCom’s network to accelerate the rollout of its 4G services.
RIL and RCom said the aggregate value of this arrangement was over Rs.12,000 crore during the lifetime of the agreement.
“The agreement provides for joint working arrangements to configure the scope of additional towers to be built at new locations to ensure deep penetration and seamless delivery of next generation services,” RIL and RCom said in a joint statement.
This agreement follows the Rs.1,200-crore intercity optic fibre sharing deal signed in April as part of a comprehensive framework of business cooperation between Reliance Jio and RCom.
A few more agreements are expected to be signed between the two companies before Reliance Jio starts commercial operations. Reliance Jio will offer a portfolio of products, which include high-speed broadband connectivity, communications, entertainment, and cloud services.
The company plans to deliver integrated digital services across the nation.
RIL shares closed with a loss of 0.97 per cent at Rs. 784.60 on the BSE. RCom shares, too, closed with a loss of 1.40 per cent at Rs. 116.40.