Aircel, RCom in talks for $300-mn infra sharing deal

Aircel Cellular and Reliance Communications (RCom) are in the final stages of negotiations for a $300-million (Rs 1,440 crore) telecom infrastructure outsourcing contract.

If signed, RCom will implement the deal through its tower subsidiary, Reliance Infratel. RCom holds a 95 per cent stake in the latter.

“The deal includes end-to-end telecom infrastructure agreements for towers, voice carriage and bulk bandwidth. Reliance Infratel will provide Aircel access to its 50,000 sites and a pan-India optic cable fibre backbone,” according to sources.

The talks with Aircel are for both new and existing circles. When asked to comment, an Aircel spokesperson said the company would not do so on speculation, while an RCom spokesperson declined to speak.

“This agreement will help Aircel optimise operational costs. This is under a strategy for cost savings while expanding or upgrading mobile coverage,” they added.

Aircel’s agreement is expected to offer RCom a revenue upside of over Rs 1,500 crore.

Last month, RCom had signed a Rs 10,000 crore telecom infrastructure agreement with licensee Etisalat DB Telecom India. The company had also entered into a similar agreement with S-Tel last week.