Reliance Communications, one India?s top telecom services providers, today said it has formed strategic inter-circle roaming partnerships with Tata Teleservices and Aircel to offer non-stop and best-in-class pan-India 3G services to its GSM customers while roaming. Similarly, other telecos such as Bharti, Idea, Vodafone and Aircel have bilateral pacts for 3G roaming services for their customers.
RCom and Aircel have permits for 3G services in 13 out of 22 service areas while Tata Teleservices has permit in 9 circles.
Under the pact, all existing and new 3G customers of Reliance Communications will be able to access high-speed pan-India 3G services while roaming outside the company?s own 3G circles. However, company hasn’t revealed which are these telcos for its inter-circle roaming partnerships.
?We are delighted to be the first operator to offer 3G national roaming to our customers in partnership with other telecom firms having state-of-the-art 3G networks. These alliances will further consolidate RCOM?s position as the leading data operator in the country and will help the Company improve its post-paid and Corporate customer marketshare,? Gurdeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Business, Reliance Communications Limited, said.
?We have always delivered innovative products and services to our customers with incredible affordability and, at RCOM, we strongly believe in connecting every Indian and bringing about a discernible change not just in their lifestyles, but in their lives as well,? he added.
Reliance Communications offers 3G services in 13 Circles nationally?Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir.
However, Reliance Communications doesn’t have any 3G offering in southern Indian. The telco still runs on a 2G network in down south and lacks the 3G network support for its customers.
Reliance Communications,during the quarter ended 31 December 2013, it had 36.2 million data customers, including 11.1 million 3G customers.
