Country’s biggest company, Reliance Industry limited’s (RIl) Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday expressed his interest to join hands with Sunil Bharti Mittal led Bharti Airtel for improving 4G services in Punjab.
Both the companies plan to invest a total of Rs 6,500 crore in Punjab, out of which, Airtel has announced to spend Rs 4,000 crore in the next five years towards expanding company’s optic fiber network and 4G services in the state. Talking about RIl’s investment plans during the Progressive Punjab Summit, Mukesh Ambani said, “We are present in Punjab in manufacturing, retail. We are also rolling out our first digital infrastructure for 4G in the state with an investment of about Rs 2,500 crore.”
He further said, “For further enhancing the digital experience, we can have a collaborative partnership with our friend Mr Mittal,” Ambani said that his company would look forward to forge a partnership with Sunil Bharti Mittal led Airtel. “We look forward to Sunil Mittal and me to see partnership to serve people and build infrastructure,” he added.
This is second time Ambani is extending a friendly hand towards Mittal. Earlier in April, their companies joined hands to share capacity of a submarine cable. Ambani also said that the company would cover 147 cities and towns through its digital services provided by Relaince Jio Infocomm. RIl had forayed into the telecom business through its subsidiary Relaince Jio Infocomm which is the only company which has pan-India airwaves that can be used for 4G services very high speed wireless broadband services.
Meanwhile, Airtel also announced that it had signed an agreement with the Punjab Government as per which, the telecom giant would lay an additional 10,000 km of optic fiber across the state and expand its 4G footprint to cover majority of the state’s population over the next few years. Airtel has already rolled out 4G services in select cities, including in Chandigarh and Mohali and plants to plans to introduce its high speed 4G long-term evolution (lTE) services across the state in the future.
Talking about Airtel’s association with the Punjab Government, Bharti Enterprises Chairman and Group CEO Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “Airtel has been at the forefront of Punjab’s telecom growth story and we are delighted to be a partner in Government of Punjab’s vision to build a digitally inclusive State. Just like the mobile phone connected millions across Punjab, this high speed data connectivity initiative will further empower people with information and services available at the touch of a screen.”
Airtel first launched its mobile services in Punjab in 2002 and currently is the largest mobile operator in the state with over 7.2 million customers. The company said till date, it has invested over Rs 4,800 crore on operations in the state with its mobile network reaching 162 towns and 12,750 villages and covering 94 per cent of the population.