Jio will be hurt if it does not bag RCOM’s spectrum, says ICICI Securities

As per ICICI Securities, Reliance Jio will be hit if the spectrum assets of Reliance Communications (RCOM) are bought by another company.

In case Jio loses access to 850MHz spectrum, it will no more be offering L-800 in seven circles which is critical for good voice service, and indoor 4G coverage, the brokerage firm said in a note.

Further, it added that several circles where Jio operates including Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal

will be impacted without RCOM’s airwaves. These circles contributed 47 per cent to the industry’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and 39 per cent to Jio’s revenue, the brokerage said.

ICICI’s warning comes on the back of asset reconstruction company, UV Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (UVARCL) being selected by RCOM’s committee of creditors (CoC) as the top bidder for RCOM and Reliance Telecom’s assets, which include spectrum and data centres.

As per ICICI Securities, UVARCL has no use of spectrum and may continue to share it with Jio probably with some payment terms.