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GLOBAL NEWS

Reliance Jio and GTL Infra sign Tower Infrastructure Sharing Deal

New Delhi, September 18, 2014: Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“Reliance Jio”), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the only pan India operator with BWA spectrum preparing to launch 4G services, and GTL Infrastructure Limited (“GTL Infra”), a Global Group enterprise, engaged in the business of Shared Passive Telecom Infrastructure in India, today announced the signing of a Master Services Agreement (MSA) for tower infrastructure sharing.

GTL Infra, together with Chennai Network Infrastructure Limited (CNIL), has a combined tower portfolio of more than 27,800 towers spread across 22 telecom Circles in India, and serving all the major telecom operators. The company has a pan India tower portfolio that is balanced across key growth regions of Metros and B & C class circles.

Sanjay Mashruwala, Managing Director, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited said, “Our mission is to launch a pan India next-generation voice and data services. We will build the same through a judicious combination of own build and rented infrastructure. This agreement with GTL Infra is not only a step in that direction but will also help us accelerate our roll out.”

Commenting on the tie up, Mr. Charudatta Naik, Group CEO, Global Group said “We are happy to be partnering with a leading 4G player like Rjio. The launch of 4G networks and the rise in the consumption of data services is a growth driver for tower companies, and we at GTL Infra are geared up to capture the opportunity. Our portfolio will play an important role in rolling out broadband networks especially in regions like North East, and South where we hold a leadership position.”

INDUSTRY NEWS

4G effect: Call-drops, roaming woes may end soon.
M Rajendran, Hindustan Times New Delhi, October 05, 2014

Fed up with call drops and loss of data connectivity while on roaming?

The next-generation 4G services may soon put an end to your woes as companies gear up to offer the latest technology to enable smooth connections.

In fact, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm’s proposed high-speed Internet service using 4G technology has crossed a major technical hurdle during its testing phase that began a few weeks ago — it will ensure that customers get the same data speed when they move from one state to another while roaming on its network.

Consumers have long complained of connectivity issues while on roaming and telecom operators have been grappling with the problem.

“When a customer is roaming, the critical issue is continuous connectivity. Operators have struggled, when the subscriber moves from one circle to another with problems such as call drops, low connectivity or even no connectivity. With our vast network agreements, it has become possible and tests have shown 99.95% success,” a senior Reliance Jio executive in the network team explained.

Reliance Jio spokesperson did not respond to HT’s mail till the time of going to press. The RIL group firm has entered into agreements with a number of firms for leasing towers across India including Indus Towers (113,000 ), GTL Infra (27,800), Ascend Telecom (4,500), Tower Vision (8,400), ATC India (11,000), Viom Networks (42,000), Bharti Infratel (36,000) and Reliance Communications (45,000). It has signed deals with a number of small tower companies as well.

In addition, Reliance Jio also has agreements with RCom and Bharti to share infrastructure created by the groups. While Airtel already offers 4G services in Kolkata, Bangalore, Ludhiana and Chandigarh and Aircel in Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir, Vodafone and RCom also plan to launch such services next year.

Telecom Firms Hike Mobile Internet Rates by up to 100% in June-September - Press Trust of India | Updated On: October 05, 2014.

New Delhi: Telecom operators increased mobile internet rates by up to 100 per cent during June-September 2014 across the country. Airtel is latest to increase mobile rates by up to 33 per cent while Vodafone and Idea have started gradually implementing the hiked mobile internet rates from June.

The three companies jointly hold around 57 per cent of the mobile services market share. While no comments were received from Airtel and Idea Cellular, Vodafone India spokesperson said, "Around 2 months ago, we changed the base tariff of 2G for 1GB pack from Rs. 155 to Rs. 175. This has been carried out in a phased manner across circles." Airtel and Idea too have increased the rate of 1GB 2G mobile internet pack to around Rs. 175 from about Rs. 155 GB.

Telecom operators generally don't make public announcement about increase in mobile tariff. The change is noticed on their website after the new rates are implemented. They usually inform their post-paid customers through SMS about change in rates of services before their next billing cycle starts. Pre-paid customers, which constitute over 90 per cent of market, get to know about rate revision when they go to recharge their mobile phone or through website of companies. Telecom operators are required to report change in tariff to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Vodafone and Idea Cellular increased rack rate, which is charged without any offer or scheme, by up to 100 per cent from 2 paise per 10 kb of data usage to 4 paise per 10 kb.

This means on Vodafone and Idea network 1 GB of 2G or 3G mobile internet will cost over Rs. 4,000 (from Rs. 2,000) which these companies under scheme are selling for around Rs. 175. Airtel started increasing mobile internet rates around first week of September. The company is now at par with Vodafone and Idea in terms of rack rate which is 4 paise per 10 kb. However, the increase is only of 33 per cent because the company was already charging 3 paise per 10 kb earlier. The 2G data pack rate of Airtel is highest among the three at 10 paise per 10 kb which means cost of 1GB mobile internet usage without any scheme or offer for a subscriber is over Rs. 10,000 which company is now selling for Rs. 176.