Despite differences over the pricing of its 4G handsets, South Korean major Samsung has teamed up with Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm to chart out a new roadmap in the Base Transceiver Station category, that aids wireless telecommunication between devices such as phones, computers and a network.
Even as Reliance Jio is readying to get 4G-enabled handsets from Samsung, a new deal to set up 70,000 Base Transceiver Station (BTS) all over India has been inked at an estimated Rs 7,500 crore.
Of these, 14,000 stations (20 per cent) have already been handed over to Reliance Jio Infocomm, at the start of December, said officials requesting anonymity.
Apart from building up the necessary infrastructure needed to ensure a hassle-free 4G launch in March 2014, Reliance Jio is also expected to make an entry in the 2G space.
The Korean Chaebol had earlier signed a devices deal with Reliance Jio and the duo was working together on a sub-Rs 5,000 LTE handset. The new deal was to substantially bring down the prices of LTE devices, but had hit a rough patch over differences on pricing of the handsets. Samsung is a leader in the mobile handset category, while Reliance Jio has a pan-India 4G licence.
Over the next two months, officials said, Reliance Jio is to start rolling out its 4G in Guwahati and in the North East via Kolkata. Samsung is to supply 1,400 BTS or 2 per cent of the total stations to this region.
Both Samsung and Reliance Jio declined comment.
4g handsets Officials said the earlier deal between Samsung and Reliance Jio had envisaged that the Korean manufacturer would be responsible for a rollout of 4G handsets, which would boast of the first voice calling 4G facility on voice over LTE.
They added that despite the differences over pricing, Reliance Jio decided to go ahead with Samsung on the BTS deal, despite traditional powerhouses such as Nokia, Siemens Networks and Ericsson, which are considered market leaders in the BTS segment.