R-Jio to use Bhartis network of undersea cables for 4G services

Reliance Industries Ltd RIL on Tuesday signed a deal to lease undersea cable capacity from Bharti Airtel,taking the Mukesh Ambani-led firm a step

Reliance Industries Ltd RIL on Tuesday signed a deal to lease undersea cable capacity from Bharti Airtel,taking the Mukesh Ambani-led firm a step closer to launching 4G services in the country.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd,the telecom arm of RIL,will use Bharti Airtels submarine cable network to provide data connectivity across Asia Pacific. Earlier this month,RIL signed a Rs 1,200-crore fibre optic network-sharing agreement with Anil Ambanis Reliance Communications,their first business deal after scrapping the non-compete agreements three years ago. Last week,Reliance Jio had finalised agreements with infrastructure providers and device makers for its 4G venture.

The company will hire capacity on Bhartis i2i cable network connecting India to Singapore. The i2i cables landing points are at Chennai and Tuas in Singapore.

Bharti and Reliance Jio will continue to build on this strategic framework and consider other mutual areas of cooperation and development,both the companies said.

RCom shares lost 3.28 per cent to Rs 94.50 after RIL announced its deal with Bharti. RIL gained 1.74 per cent to Rs 803.50 on the BSE.

RCom shares had surged in April on hopes that RIL and RCom will extend co-operation in telecom, said an analyst.

Reliance Jio will utilise a dedicated fiber pair on i2i. The high-speed link will enable Reliance Jio to extend its network and service reach to customers across Asia Pacific region, the RIL statement said. It will connect Reliance Jio directly to the worlds major business hubs and ISPs,thereby,helping the operator to meet the bandwidth demand and provide ultra-fast data experience to its customers.

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The deal marks Reliance Jios continued efforts to rapidly grow and expand both its international and domestic network and infrastructure by building an ecosystem with multiple carriers and service providers, it added. Bhartis global network runs across 2,25,000 km,covering 50 countries in five continents.

Airtel to buy Warid Telecom Uganda

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has entered into a definitive agreement with UAE-based Warid Group to acquire Warid Telecom Uganda,strengthening its footprint in the African region. After the acquisition,existing 2.8 million Warid customers in Uganda will join Airtels network that serves over 269 million customers globally,the company said. It,however,did not reveal financial details of the deal. PTI