State-owned BSNl is in advanced talks with Reliance Jio and Vodafone for signing a 2G roaming agreement this month.
“We are in advanced stages for signing 2G intra-circle roaming agreement with Reliance Jio and Vodafone. I believe agreement with them should be signed this month,” BSNl Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava told the news agency.
Under the agreement, customers of Reliance Jio and Vodafone will get access to BSNl network where there is a coverage gap.
The state-run firm has deep presence in rural areas as other companies have invested very conservatively due to low return on investments.
Once the agreement is finalised, BSNl customers will also have access to the networks of Reliance Jio and Vodafone.
In terms of mobile base stations, BSNl stands second in the country. It has around 1.14 lakh and is in process of installing another 21,000 mobile towers.
“Soon, we will start signing 3G intra-circle roaming agreement with other players. We are working on rates for 3G roaming agreement. Being a Government firm, we need to have uniform rate for all companies,” Shrivastava said.