Reliance Jio and COAI reconcile, join GSM industry body

Reliance Industries Limited's telecom arm and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) have reconciled their differences with Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI) joining the GSM industry body, which represents operators like Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Uninor, among others. RJI will roll out pan-India 4G services next year.

Earlier, COAI had opposed the issuance of unified licence to RJI by the Department of Telecom (DoT) against payment of about `1,673 crore in 2013. With unified licence, RJI can offer full-fledged mobile services, a development vehemently opposed by COAI alleging the company was given licence at cheap price.

"We are delighted that Reliance Jio Infocomm has joined us in our common endeavour to roll out innovative and affordable mobile broadband services to the citizens of India," COAI director general Rajan S. Mathews said.

In association with Mail Today