Reliance Jio Infocomm, the Indian challenger rolling out a nationwide 4G network, expects to launch services within a year.
Mukesh Ambani - chairman of parent company Reliance Industries (RIL) - told investors that the company has an ambitious rollout plan for the next 12 months, the Hindureported.
Speaking at RIL' AGM yesterday, Ambani laid out plans to increase Reliance Jio's headcount from around 3,000 today to 10,000 by next year.
RIL made its first move towards deploying LTE services in mid-2010, when it acquired wireless broadband startup Infotel Broadband and its nationwide 2.3-GHz spectrum for around $1 billion.
The company had been restricted from entering the telecom sector prior to this purchase due to a pact between Mukesh Ambani and his brother Anil – owner of Reliance Communications - not to compete in each others' sectors. This pact was signed after the acrimonious break-up of their father's business empire.
But the pact expired in 2010, and the brothers appear to have buried the hatchet - in April this year, Reliance Industries signed a 12 billion rupee ($210.8 million) deal to use Reliance Communications' fiber as the backbone for the Reliance Jio LTE network.