Reliance Communications to provide telecom coverage to 2,34,000 villages

RCOM to provide telecom coverage to 2,34,000 villages

Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), within a day of signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Universal Service Obligation (USO) program of the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), has commenced the rollout of “Worlds Largest and Fastest Rural Infrastructure” project. The project comprising of commissioning 8982 Base Terminal Stations (BTSs), when completed would provide telecom services in 2,34,000 Indian villages which do not have any telecom connectivity at present.

“Dhirubhai dreamt of a world without borders and man-made limits – a global village where everyone, but most of all every Indian, would have the chance to communicate and connect, compete and collaborate”, said Mr. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, Chairman, RCOM. “The commencement of Worlds fastest and largest rural telephony rollout project is a step forward in bridging the Digital Divide, that would provide telecom coverage to millions of Indians living in the remotest part of country”, he added.

RCOM has emerged as the most successful telecom operator in bagging the maximum sites under the USO initiative of the Department of Telecommunications. Leveraging the talent pool and project management skills of the Reliance ADA Group, RCOM has formed a special task force for the National Rural Rollout. The National Rural Marketing Team would be responsible for the completing this mammoth task within tight deadlines, as well as come up with attractive offerings to promote the growth of telecom services among the rural populi. The company aims to launch its telecom services within two months, after provisioning of passive infrastructure in these locations.

Last year, RCOM had established its state-of-the-art telecom network in over 40,000 villages, under the USO fund, and added close to 7.5 lakh new subscribers in these areas. In addition, RCOM plans to enhance its network coverage to 25000 towns and 4.5 lakh villages by March 2008. The company has already earmarked a capex of $ 2.5 bn (around Rs. 11,000 crore) for its network expansion plans during this fiscal.