Reliance Jio Signs Tower-sharing Deal With BSNL

Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) has inked a deal with state-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for leasing around 4,000 mobile towers.

According to the signed agreement, BSNL will be providing a base rate of Rs 38,000 per month for ground-based towers (GBT) and the base rate for rooftop-based towers will be Rs 24,900 per month. If Reliance Jio will comit the leasing of at least 1,500 mobile towers, telecom firm BSNL will offer discounted rates.

Anupam Shrivastava, BSNL director (consumer mobility), said,"The rent for ground towers will be Rs 35,000 per month and Rs 21,000 per month for rooftop towers if Reliance Jio commits leasing of 1,500 towers in first year."

As per Shrivastava, there is also a provision of 5% discount if RJIL commits leasing of at least 1,000 towers within three months.

However, RJIL has not yet given any response on the deal. Reliance Jio holds pan-India broadband wireless access spectrum that can be used for 4G service. Also, RJIL won radiowaves in the 1800 Mhz band, widely known as 2G spectrum. Currently, this is also being used for 4G services across the globe.

It is important to note that RJIL is the first telecom operator in the country to get a unified licence for all 22 service areas in India. This licence will allow Reliance Jio to provide all telecom services, which also includes voice telephony.
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