State-owned telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJio) on Monday signed an intra-circle roaming (ICR) agreement for 2G and 4G services.
BSNL is the fifth largest telecom operator in terms of mobile subscribers in India and has around 1.14 lakh sites across the country with a wide reach in rural areas — one of the reasons for other companies to tie-up with the company for network expansions.
Other than RJio, Bharti Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone India have also tied up with BSNL for 2G ICR services.
“This agreement should benefit both our customers and create a strong, seamless support for both the networks. This will also help BSNL monetise its huge network capabilities and provide high-speed mobile broadband services to our customers.
“In a way it is win-win situation for us,” said Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL.
Vast coverage BSNL has vast geographical coverage across the length and breadth of India (except Delhi and Mumbai), whereas RJio with its all-IP, end-to-end 4G-LTE network has the latest technology to offer high-speed internet services across the country.
“This agreement is a continuation of our efforts to forge strategic partnerships with other telecom service providers to build a formidable nationwide presence. While we are creating a new-age network of our own, such agreements help our customers to stay connected while roaming,” said Sanjay Mashruwala, Managing Director, Reliance Jio.