Full roll-out of Reliance GSM this year

Posted on | May 20, 2007 |

Announcing the company’s results, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani said: “We are presently operating our GSM business in 8 circles and in 8,000 towns. We plan a full roll-out in all our circles this year.”

The company would need Rs 4,500 crore for the nationwide GSM roll-out. It would also be setting up 20,000 towers. However, a nationwide roll-out would depend on spectrum availability.

Reliance Communications also announced ambitious roll-out targets, including commitment to a nationwide WiMax network and the expansion of its infrastructure base from 13,000 towers to 33,000 by the end of the year.

The towers would have the capability to handle all technologies like GSM, CDMA, WiMax and 3G, Ambani said, adding they would meet the requirements of Reliance Communications as well as tenants. With the tenants paying the company a fee for using the towers, it would constitute another revenue-stream for the company, he said.

Reliance Communications had an ARPU of Rs371 per subscriber per month as of March 2007.
The company disconnected some 5.6 million users as it completed the subscriber verification process.

Sources: Live Mint and Financial Express

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