Jio expects to reach nationwide coverage with its 5G services by the end of this year
India’s largest telecom operator, Reliance Jio Infocomm, has secured a $2 billion loan, which it will use to fund the acquisition of 5G network gear from Finnish vendor Nokia, local newspaper The Economic Times reported.
The report also stated that Finnish export credit agency, Finnvera, is believed to have provided insurance coverage for the deal.
The loan was finalized after several months of discussions, with HSBC acting as the lead arranger, according to the report. “The loan would be around $1.5-2 billion, and it is structured in a way that carries with it an implied rate of interest arrived over the tenure of the loan,” a source with knowledge of the matter told The Economic Times.
Jio had recently secured another loan of nearly $2 billion arranged by BNP Paribas to fund 5G network gear purchases from Swedish vendor Ericsson. For the deal with Ericsson, the Swedish export credit agency, EKN, had provided a $2.2-billion cover, according to previous reports.
Jio has been expanding its 5G coverage across India since October 2022. The telco expects to reach nationwide coverage with its 5G services by the end of this year.
The telco has already rolled out 5G services in 7,764 cities and towns and currently has over 62 million 5G customers.
The telco, which is offering 5G via its 5G Standalone (SA) network, had previously secured a mix of wireless spectrum for 5G across the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. Jio is the only Indian operator with the 700 MHz low-band spectrum.
Last month, Reliance Jio Infocomm announced the launch of its 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) service in eight cities across the country.
The new offering, dubbed JioAirFiber, was initially launched in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune.
At the time of the launch, Jio said that its optical fiber infrastructure currently spans over 1.5 million kilometers across India, putting the telco in close proximity to over 200 million premises. However, Jio noted that providing physical last-mile connectivity often ends up taking a lot of time in most parts of the country, leaving millions of potential customers without home broadband, due to the complexities and delays involved in extending fiber to their premises.
Reliance Jio Infocomm recently said it has created a dedicated 5G network slice for the provision of its 5G fixed wireless access solution. The Indian telco aims to reach 100 million connected premises in India with its FWA offering.
