Jio users might suffer if RCom deal fails: Report

It seems that Reliance Jio subscribers in Delhi, Maharashtra, and West Bengal are likely to face disruptions if it does not manage to acquire spectrum from Anil Ambani led Reliance Communication, ET reported.

According to the report Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio will need to set up five contiguous blocks of premium 800 MHz bands the markets of including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

It's critical that the spectrum trading deal gets cleared soon as it will give Jio exclusive access to RCom's 4G spectrum that will help it create contiguous blocks in the 800 MHz band, which is absolutely essential for LTE coverage to avoid service disruptions in key markets," ET quoted Rohan Dhamija, partner & head of India & Middle East at Analysys Mason.

To recall, the deal was agreed was inked in 2017, which if cleared RJIL or its nominees will acquire assets under four categories - Towers, Optic Fiber Cable Network ("OFC"), Spectrum and Media Convergence Nodes ("MCN") from RCOM and its affiliates.

These assets are strategic in nature and are expected to contribute significantly to the large-scale roll-out of wireless and Fiber to Home and Enterprise services by RJIL, it added.

An asset monetization process for RCOM assets was mandated by the lenders of RCOM, who appointed SBI Capital Markets Limited to run the process. The process is supervised by an independent group of industry experts. RJIL emerged as the successful bidder in the two-stage bidding process.

RCOM also worked closely with all Lenders and SBI Capital Markets Limited, the advisors appointed by the Lenders, to run a competitive process for the monetization of its valuable assets, comprising:

122.4 MHz of 4G Spectrum in the 800/900/1800/2100 MHz bands
Over 43,000 towers, amongst the top 3 independent tower holdings in India 1,78,000 RKM of fiber with pan India footprint
248 Media Convergence Nodes, covering 5 Million sqft used for hosting telecom infrastructure

Consequent to the agreement, RJIL or its nominees will acquire assets under four categories - Towers, Optic Fiber Cable Network ("OFC"), Spectrum and Media Convergence Nodes ("MCN") from RCOM and its affiliates.

These assets are strategic in nature and are expected to contribute significantly to the large-scale roll-out of wireless and Fiber to Home and Enterprise services by RJIL, it added.

An asset monetization process for RCOM assets was mandated by the lenders of RCOM, who appointed SBI Capital Markets Limited to run the process. The process is supervised by an independent group of industry experts. RJIL emerged as the successful bidder in the two-stage bidding process.