RCom in advanced spectrum sharing, trading talks with Jio, says Anil Ambani

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications (RCom) is in advanced talks to share and trade spectrum with Reliance Jio Infocomm in the 800-850 Mhz band, apart from selling its stake in its tower unit, Chairman Anil Ambani told shareholders on Wednesday, pushing RCom’s stock sharply higher.

Addressing shareholders at RCom’s annual general meeting, Anil Ambani said that the pact with Jio, owned by elder brother Mukesh Ambani, will include reciprocal agreements for roaming by respective customers on each other’s networks.

The pact will allow RCOM customers access to Reliance Jio’s 4G networks on an asset-light and minimal capex model, while allowing Jio’s customers to have fall back on to RCOM’s extensive 2G and 3G networks, Ambani said.

RCOM, India’s fourth largest telco, is the only operator in India to hold 5 MHz or more of the 800 – 850 Mhz band spectrum, across the country.

At 2 pm, the company’s stock was trading 7.3% higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs 68.55, outpacing gains in the broader market.

Ambani further said that RCom expects to sign a deal to sell its stake in its tower unit, Reliance Infratel, in the next one or two months which will help the telco to substantially reduction its overall debt which stands at over Rs38,000 crore as at June end.

He added RCom’s discussions with Sistema Shyam Teleservices for a merger of their Indian operations into RCOM through a stock swap at an advanced stage.

The proposed merger will be highly value accretive for RCOM, as it will, in eight key circles, extend the validity of the 850 Mhz spectrum by 12 years to 2033.