MUKESH Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio on Wednesday announced to invest Rs 3,000 crore in West Bengal by rolling out fourth generation (4G) broadband services in the state. The services are expected to be in place by the end of this year or by March 2014 in some select cities. The company said the rolling out of 4G broadband services in the state is a stepping stone for future investments in the state from the company. Reliance Jio has 4G licences in 22 telecom circles. The investment by the company has the potential to generate direct and indirect employment to 5,000 people in the state. The company has planned to invest around Rs 7,000 crore in the eastern region which includes West Bengal,Orissa ,Bihar,Jharkhand,Assam and the other North-Eastern states. 4G technology offers faster browsing speed through broadband services. Tarun Jhunjhunwala,Business Head and State Mentor East said,Reliance intends to set up 3,000 towers across 56 towns in the state. A network of around 5,500 km of optical fibre cables will be laid. The work has already started at the ground level. The roll-out of 4G services in Bengal will be carried out simultaneously with Delhi,Mumbai and Jamnagar. The company has already sought permission from the Department of Telecom for initial trials. Initially,the 4G roll out plans included Mumbai,Delhi and Jamnagar. But we now want to include Kolkata,too. Roll out in some of the cities in the eastern region is likely by end of this year or by March next year, he said on the sidelines of a programme here in the city.
