Reliance Communications (RCOM) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) are planning a spectrum sharing arrangement that would enable RJIL to access 10 MHz of continuous 4G bandwidth in 10 circles, namely, Mumbai, UP (East), Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Northeast, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. RCOM, on the other hand, will benefit by gaining access to Reliance Jio's 4G network in the 10 circles at virtually zero incremental capex costs.

To this end, RCOM has applied to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seeking permission to progressively liberalise its old 800 MHz spectrum holdings in all the 10 circles that were originally assigned without auctions at government-set prices. As per the spectrum sharing guidelines recently approved by the Union Cabinet, sharing of non-auctioned spectrum with auctioned airwaves will not be permitted, unless market price for the former is paid.

RJIL had acquired 49 units in the 800 MHz band across the 10 circles in the March 2015 auction. However, out of the 10 circles, the operator has continuous 800 MHz airwaves in only four circles - Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Northeast.  RCOM, on the other hand, has continuous bandwidth in all these circles. The spectrum sharing arrangement with RCOM would allow RJIL to convert the non-continuous airwaves in the 800 MHz band into continuous frequencies. This would help the company in delivering 4G long term evolution (LTE) services on this frequency, which has been historically used for CDMA services.