Reliance Jio has signed another agreement with Reliance Communications(RCom) that will allow change in spectrum allotment in the 800 MHz band across nine circles from RCom to Reliance Jio. Under the aggrement, both operators will be sharing 800 MHz band spectrum across 17 circles. RCom acquired the ownership of the lower band 800/850 Mhz 4G LTE spectrum from their acquisition of MTS.
The deal will provide Reliance Jio a pan-India 4G network coverage on the 800-850 MHz frequency along with 2,300 MHz that it already owns, enabling it to offer better indoor coverage and superior voice services through VoLTE. 4G coverage is critical for Reliance Jio as the operator does not have 2G or 3G network for voice services fall back.
As part of the extended partnership, both operators also intend to sign a reciprocal Intra Circle Roaming arrangement. Four months back, both companies signed an initial pact that will enable Reliance Jio to offer 4G services over the 800 MHz band across 10 circles on top of its existing coverage provided on 2.3GHz across the country.
