Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecommunication unit of diversified business conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, has signed a lease agreement with tower infrastructure firm Viom Networks Ltd to use the latter's telecom tower infrastructure for the rollout of its 4G services across the country.
The tower leasing pact with Viom Networks, which has a passive telecom infrastructure having a footprint of over 42,000 telecom towers, would help the Mukesh Ambani-led firm reduce capital costs.
"The agreement is in line with our mission of a pan-India launch spanning next generation voice and data services and leveraging existing telecom infrastructure. We look forward to partnering with Viom Networks for rolling out services across the country," Reliance Jio's managing director Sanjay Mashruwala said in the statement.
Viom Networks is a joint venture between SREI Infrastructure and mobile carrier Tata Teleservices.
Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio bought 4G airwaves in a 2010 in an auction by the government, but has yet to launch the services.
Reliance Jio has tower-leasing pacts with local firms Reliance Communications and Bharti Infratel, which is one of the largest tower infrastructure providers in India with 35,376 towers in 11 telecom circles across India. Bharti Infratel has 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers which has 112,144 towers in 15 telecom circles across India.
Besides this, Reliance Jio also has a similar agreement with Bharti Infratel's parent Bharti Airtel to share network.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)