DoT approves RJio, RCom spectrum sharing in nine circles

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Friday approved spectrum sharing between Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio in nine circles including Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

This will allow both the firms to offer 4G services on 10 MHz block in 800 Mhz band after the sharing arrangements. The nine circles are Mumbai, UPE, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and the North East, according to a filing on stock exchanges.

For the remaining 13 circles, RJio plans to trade spectrum from RCom by paying about Rs 4,500 crore to the DoT.

A 10 Mhz block can provide up to 80 Mbps speeds and, with the 800 Mhz spectrum advantage, this can deliver Internet faster and at a much more affordable cost than many wire-line broadband / Wi-Fi services offered today. The subscriber capacity also multiplies exponentially when spectrum is combined into a single block of 10 Mhz, according to sources.

In January this year, the firms had announced plans of spectrum sharing and trading for 800-850 MHz spectrum, which will give RJio an edge over the competition.

The deal will give RJio a pan-India 4G network on 800-850 MHz frequency along with 2,300 MHz it already owns. The lower frequency offers better indoor coverage and provides seamless voice services through Voice over LTE (VoLTE). RJio has already soft-launched its 4G services.

Reliance Communications (RCOM)