"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 PTI.
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.
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"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.
With the telecom ministry objecting to the 3G-ICR among the telecom operators mainly Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, these players acquired customers using each others network in telecom circles where they did not have 3G spectrum. The telecom tribunal TDSAT upheld the agreement signed by the private telecom operators.
The public sector firm also held discussion with telecom major Bharti Airtel for spectrum sharing in two circles - Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
"We had discussion with Airtel for spectrum sharing in three circles - 1800, 900 and 2100 Mhz band. If talks are finalised, then we will liberalise spectrum in these circles," Shrivastava added.
With liberalised spectrum, BSNL will be able to provide 4G service to its customers through the airwaves which it is currently using for 2G services.
When contacted, Airtel spokesperson said, "We have only held preliminary discussions with BSNL in the past and there is nothing ongoing or at an advanced stage.
The spectrum sharing allows companies to share burden of government levies. It also helps increase wireless bandwidth capacity for providing good quality mobile services.