Reliance Jio gets DoT nod to test latest 4G services
06 Aug 2013
Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has received approval from the department of telecommunications (DoT) to test the messaging feature on the fourth-generation long-term evolution (4GLTE) platform.
The approval to test SMS services follows an extension of six months granted to Reliance Jio by the DoT to test voice-over on the 4G LTE technology.
Mukesh Ambani's RIL was allowed to launch voice services under a new licencing regime after paying an entry fee of Rs1,658 crore. Through its acquisition of Infotel Broadband in 2010, RIL got licences to offer pan-India broadband wireless services.
The company is trying to develop the 4GLTE technology, which will allow it to offer voice in the 20 megahertz spectrum in the 2.3 gigahertz band - the spectrum band mainly identified for transmitting data.
In an internal noting of the DoT dated 31 July, the department observed, "For testing voice-over LTE technology, availability of SMS is an important feature. So, it is desirable to test it."
As it attempts to develop technology to offer voice services, Reliance has requested the government to allot it 10,000 phone numbers.