Forget the Hype Regarding Reliance Jio Infocomm 4G LTE as the spectrum the latter has is not as efficient compared to what Reliance Communications [RCom] has. RCOM already has 800, 1800 and 2100 in various circles. RCom’s 5MHz in 800 Band is contiguous in most key circles including Delhi and Mumbai and with steady progress of the 800 LTE ecosystem globally (such as South Korea). RCom is already using this spectrum to offer EVDO Wireless Broadband which has been contributing significantly to its bottom line. Reliance Jio Infocomm could fall back upon RCom to offer LTE provided regulations permit Spectrum Sharing.
Successful Deployment of 800 MHz Spectrum Band for 4G LTE
The Korean telcos use 850MHz (Band 5) for LTE. Uplink frequency is 824-849MHz and downlink frequency is 869-894MHz. This is the same spectrum that RCOM holds. Apple iPhone 5S/5C, most Samsung and LG phones support this band. LG U Plus and SK Telecom each have 10MHz of 850 LTE spectrum. SK Telecom started out with 850 LTE in July 2011 and later on secured 1800 to enhance capacity. VoLTE was launched by SK Telecom in late 2012 and it notched up about 4.5 million VoLTE subscribers in 11 months. Currently, SK Telecom offers upto 150Mbps (LTE-Advanced) using 10MHz of 1800 and 10MHz of 800. It has 84 cities under coverage.
RCOM has contiguous 5MHz block of 800 in most key circles as shown below