RCom inks infrastructure sharing pact with S Tel

Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications today said it has signed an infrastructure sharing agreement with S Tel, a new entrant in the telecom space which has received licence to roll out services across six circles.

The agreement, which will be executed through Reliance Communications' subsidiary Reliance Infratel, will give S Tel access to RCom's network coverage of over 10,000 sites across six circles and optic cable fibre backbone, the company said in a statement.

"This agreement reiterates Reliance Communications capabilities to enable the operators to go-to-market with a bouquet of telecom infrastructure services. This will ensure a faster rollout, optimum costs and a time to market advantage," Reliance Infratel President Inder Bajaj said.

S Tel has received license to roll out services across six circles of Orissa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, North East, Assam and J&K. It plans to roll out its mobile telephony services before the end of this year.

The end-to-end telecom sharing agreement includes telecom towers sharing, transmission for BTS sites and fibre backbone for intercity connectivity, it said.

This agreement will enable S Tel to roll out its commercial services with optimum cost and faster time-to-market advantage, the statement added.

Mobile operators have been adopting infrastructure sharing mechanism to save costs, while expanding and upgrading their mobile networks.

"As a new entrant in a dynamic market, this alliance provides us with key, strategic advantages that will ensure speed to market and cost-effective roll-out of services," S Tel Chief Executive Officer Shamik Das said.

S Tel a joint venture between Sterling Infotech Group (SIG) and Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). SIG holds 57.3 per cent in S Tel while Batelco owns the rest.