A few weeks after securing US$1.7bn worth of spectrum in a hotly-contested auction, Indian newcomer Reliance Jio has signed a tower sharing agreement with local towerco Bharti Infratel.
The partnership will allow Reliance Jio, which is owned by…
A few weeks after securing US$1.7bn worth of spectrum in a hotly-contested auction, Indian newcomer Reliance Jio has signed a tower sharing agreement with local towerco Bharti Infratel.
The partnership will allow Reliance Jio, which is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani via his Reliance Industries conglomerate, to use Bharti Infratel’s tower infrastructure to launch services across the country.
“As per the agreement, the pricing would be at ‘arm’s length’, based on prevailing market rates,” the companies stated.
The agreement follows a comprehensive asset sharing arrangement with Infratel’s parent Bharti Airtel signed in December last year. These assets include an optic fibre network, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services.
Reliance Jio already has another sharing tie-up in place with local mobile operator Reliance Communications (RCom). In early April last year, RI and RCom agreed a fibre sharing deal, which marked a thawing of relations between Mukesh and Anil Ambani, the two once-estranged brothers that own them. They later signed a Rs12bn (US$2.1bn) tower sharing agreement.
During the 2014 auction, Reliance Jio bid aggressively, pushing the prices up as it is looking to become a disruptive force in India’s crowded mobile market. The company paid US$1.7bn to secure 1,800 MHz spectrum across 14 of the 22 circles.
