BSNL join hands with Reliance Jio and Vodafone

Reliance Jio always come with a way to remain in the spotlight. From past few weeks telecom world is witnessing a growing demand for Jio and its reach is also growing fast. Now Reliance Jio and state-owned operator BSNL have reportedly signed a pact for intra-circle roaming. So that BSNL customers with a 4G-capable phone will be able to use Reliance Jio’s 4G services in roaming mode, while Reliance Jio’s customers will be able to use BSNL’s 2G network for making voice calls.

As Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani had mentioned during the Reliance Jio launch event that it would not be charging for roaming; from this new tie up, for Jio subscribers using BSNL’s network will be free. But the information regarding what BSNL users will have to pay to use Reliance’s 4G services remains hidden. With voice calls being free on Jio networks and at a time when competition is being tougher on Jio for the interconnection/ termination costs with huge inflow of voice traffic expected to be coming from Jio subs, the 2G fallback to BSNL networks is a blessing.

BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava said in a statement that they are focused on creating value for customers through expanding their outreach as well as strengthening network capabilities, especially in terms of quality. This agreement should benefit both customers and create a strong, seamless support for both the networks. They are upgrading their network which should take three months. After this BSNL customers having 4G handset will be able to use Jio’s 4G service on rate that both the companies will finalize soon.

This news comes right after BSNL just signed another pact with Vodafone. The two companies have signed a 2G intra-circle roaming agreement, which is supposed to help reduce call drops. BSNL has a wider reach than Vodafone, with a presence in many rural areas, whereas Vodafone has denser coverage in urban areas, thus the two networks should both benefit from this tie-up.