Etisalat DB Telecom, a joint venture between Etisalat and Mumbai-based Dynamix Balwas Group, has signed a Rs10,000 crore ($2.2 billion) telecom tower sharing agreement with Reliance Communications.

Under the terms of the 10-year agreement, Etisalat DB and its subsidiary would outsource their telecom infrastructure requirements for the 15 telecom circles, encompassing end-to-end tower and transmission infrastructure to Reliance Infratel Limited and Reliance Communications Limited, respectively.

The passive infrastructure agreement, said a top official, will help Etisalat accelerate its forthcoming roll-out of telecom services in India.

Commenting on the strategic alliance, Mohammad Hassan Omran, chairman of Etisalat said, 'This significant development is part of our overall commitment to provide consumers with quality service and reach at the time of launch.'

Etisalat DB Telecom India, in which the Gulf region's second-largest telecoms operator owns a 45 per cent stake, has licences to provide mobile services in 15 of India's 22 telecoms zones but is yet to start services.

As a new entrant in this dynamic market, this alliance provides us with key, strategic advantages that will ensure a robust, speedy and cost-effective roll-out of services, he noted.

'We are pleased to partner with Reliance Communications and Reliance Infratel, which have an extensive capability as an integrated service provider across the telecom infrastructure value chain. Strategic alliances are an integral part of our plans for growth and Etisalat Group will always be receptive to such alliances which help to enhance the customer experience,' he added.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, chairman, Reliance ADA Group said, 'We are pleased to partner with Etisalat DB through this landmark agreement that will re-define the future of Indian telecom sector.'

'This win-win agreement demonstrates 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.'

'The vision of our Group founder, the Late Dhirubhai Ambani, for enhancing customer choice with pro consumer, pro competition philosophy, has inspired us to transform industry dynamics and reinvented economic models, he observed.

This agreement presents large cost optimization benefits with an asset light model, improvement in capital productivity and enhances RCOM group revenues by Rs10,000 crores.

The agreement with Reliance Communications Group is the first and the largest Telecom Infrastructure sharing including Towers and Transmission agreement of its kind in the Indian Telecom landscape and strongly complements Etisalat DB Telecom’s plans for India.

With operations across in Asia, Middle East and Africa Etisalat has built state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure and taken a leadership position of innovation and reliability among regional and international operators.-TradeArabia News Service