Reliance Industries (RIL) said Thursday, the company's subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm (Reliance Jio) has signed a master services agreement (MSA) with GTL Infrastructure (GTL Infra), a Global Group enterprise, for sharing tower infrastructure. Reliance Jio is the only pan India operator with BWA spectrum preparing to launch 4G services.

GTL Infra, together with Chennai Network Infrastructure (CNIL), has a combined tower portfolio of more than 27,800 towers spread across 22 telecom Circles in India, and serving all the major telecom operators. The company has a pan India tower portfolio that is balanced across key growth regions of Metros and B & C class circles.

Sanjay Mashruwala, managing director, Reliance Jio Infocomm said, ''Our mission is to launch a pan India next-generation voice and data services. We will build the same through a judicious combination of own build and rented infrastructure. This agreement with GTL Infra is not only a step in that direction but will also help us accelerate our roll out.''
  
Commenting on the tie up, Charudatta Naik, Group CEO, Global Group said, ''We are happy to be partnering with a leading 4G player like Rjio. The launch of 4G networks and the rise in the consumption of data services is a growth driver for tower companies, and we at GTL Infra are geared up to capture the opportunity. Our portfolio will play an important role in rolling out broadband networks especially in regions like North East, and South where we hold a leadership position.''

Shares of the company gained Rs 16.5, or 1.67%, to settle at Rs 1,004.50. The total volume of shares traded was 204,927 at the BSE (Thursday).