After months of rumors about whether the two entities are going to partner or not, it appears that RIL and RCOM have finally agreed to partner. According to a BSE filing, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and Reliance Communications Ltd. have signed an agreement worth Rs 1,200 crore for sharing RCOM’s nationwide inter-city fibre optic network infrastructure. With this agreement, Reliance Jio Infocomm will be able to utilize multiple fiber pairs across RCOM’s 1,20,000 KM inter-city fiber optic network to provide 4G services. According to the report, RCOM, in return, would get access to optic fiber infrastructure to be built by Reliance Jio Infocomm in the future. It also states that the agreement is the first in an intended comprehensive framework of business co-operation between Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Communications. It will also allow both the companies to utilize the existing and future infrastructure of both companies on reciprocal basis, including inter alia, inter-city fiber, intra-city fiber, towers and related assets. It should be noted that RIL had acquired 95% stake in Infotel Broadband services, after it secured pan-India BWA Spectrum for Rs 12,847.7 crore during the 2010 BWA Auctions. RIL is the only company to have a pan-India BWA Spectrum in the country. RIL 4G Timeline: March 28, 2013: Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, has informed Lok Sabha that each BWA Licensee has rollout obligations depending on the service area license. As per these obligations, Licensees should provide street level coverage in at least 90% of the metro service areas within five years of the effective date, failing which the BWA spectrum…
