RJio network progress hit by not getting right-of-way

Reliance-Jio-InfocommKolkata: Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group, is beset with the problem of not getting right-of-way to lay underground cables in various parts of the country hitting progress in network expansion.

"Getting right-of-way in several parts of the country is becoming a problem for Reliance Jio. But things will be sorted out as early as possible," a company official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Other companies were also facing similar problems, he said adding "rules for getting right-of-way vary from place to place".

The progress in network completion was good in some states in south India but problems existed in Mumbai, parts of Maharashtra and various other places across the country.

The company, he said, had already got the right-of-way in Kolkata civic area after the intervention of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The company was in the process of laying down underground optical fibre cables (OFC) to roll out 2G voice and 4G LTE data services pan-India.

Reliance Jio was also targetting the enterprise business segment in a big way.

"Typically, the enterprise business segment contributed 20 percent to 25 percent of overall revenue of a telecom company", the official said.

The enterprise business segment would meet the needs of the corporates, he said.

The company had bought 2300 Mhz and 1800 Mhz spectrum to roll out data and voice services.

"A part of the 2300 Mhz spectrum will be used to provide LTE HD voice services", he said. --- PTI