 MUMBAI: Reliance Industries on Tuesday joined hands with arch rival Bharti Airtel to use the latter's submarine cables for its 4G launch, a deal which surprised industry as both its promoters—Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal-—have been so far seen as competitors. Earlier this month, Mukesh Ambani buried years of rivalry with younger brother Anil after inking a similar deal to share Reliance Communications' nationwide optic fiber network. Clearly, the senior Ambani, who turned 56 on April 19, is out to make new friends in his bid to launch bundled voice & hi-speed data on 4G network across the country later this year. A joint statement by RIL and Bharti Airtel said: "...( We) have signed an Indefeasible Right to Use (IRU) Agreement under which Bharti will provide Reliance Jio data capacity on its i2i submarine cable." The statement added that Bharti and Reliance Jio will continue to "build on this strategic framework and consider other mutual areas of cooperation and development to leverage their respective assets towards offering their customers a much richer experience ." The companies, however , did not disclose the deal's value. "Co-opetition" , or the process when rivals join hands for a common business goal, is not really new in telecom as many competitors have come together to share tower infrastructure in the past. Sources say RIL has rather smartly decided to partner a rival because this partnership offers connectivity with Singapore, which no other operator can provide. Interestingly, it comes at a time when Reliance Jio Infocomm with pan-India broadband wireless licenses is set to disrupt the Indian telephony market and is seen as a potential threat to Airtel, the world's fourth largest mobile service provider in terms of subscribers.RIL shares gained 1.7% to close at Rs 803, while shares of Bharti Airtel closed down marginally at Rs 300 in a flat Mumbai market on Tuesday. Reliance Communications' shares lost 3.2% to close at Rs 95, anticipating that the tieup with Bharti means RIL is open to players other than RCOM. Company officials in both the Ambani camps are, however, optimistic about further deals between the two Reliance groups. "The Bharti deal happened because RCOM didn't have a network in the Asia Pacific region," said a company source, adding that the tower sharing deal between the two Ambani firms is imminent. Sources also didn't rule out the possibility of a similar deal with Anil Ambani's Flag Telecommunications for using its submarine cable which connects the west. The deal is significant for Reliance Jio on two counts. Reliance Jio can utilize the dedicated fiber pair on Bharti's i2i submarine cable that connects India and Singapore . Second, i2i cable system will provide Reliance Jio direct access and ultra-fast connectivity to major hubs across Asia-Pacific . "We won't be surprised if RIL signs a 4G roaming pact with Bharti as well. Mukesh Ambani seems to be making Mumbai and Chennai the hub for data centres from where all video content will be fed into the network," said a source, adding that it looks like Reliance Jio is also making a terrestrial network without going via satellite route for providing IPTV content. Airtel's i2i submarine cable system connects India to Singapore and was set up in 2001 by Airtel and Singtel. However, the later divested its stake in i2i in January 2007. Meanwhile, RIL has roped in Maxis Communications CEO Sandip Das to head Reliance Jio. Das is expected to work closely with Mukesh Ambani's confident Manoj Modi and help in striking infrastructure sharing deals with local and global telcos. Making new connections The surprise deal will allow RIL to use Bharti Airtel's 'i2i' submarine submarine ca cable for rolling out its 4G services The move by Mukesh Ambani (L) too partner rival Sunil Mittal (R) offers connectivity with Singapore, something that no other operator can provide Analysts expect the two to sign a 4G roaming pact too, with Reliance Jio possibly making Mumbai & Chennai its data hubs where all video content will be fed into the network.  via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNE52vLf9Q1GGonRGT9YEs5ir2SGxw&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Mukesh-Ambani-dials-Sunil-Mittal/articleshow/19704638.cms | |||
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