Reliance Communications Launches Gsm Service In Over 11,000 Towns All Over India

[Arun 795]

Mumbai, December 30, 2008

Roll-out marks the completion of Rs 10,000 crores committed investment

Reliance announces world’s largest customer experience programme

GSM service to be available nationwide in over 11,000 towns through 2,000 exclusive retail stores and over 1 million retailers

Fastest network launch covering 1 billion people within 11 months

Project 6 months ahead of schedule. Reliance completing in 15 months what other operators have taken 15 years to complete

State of the art next generation GSM network with digital voice clarity and India’s first nationwide enhanced EDGE for fast internet access

Reliance’s No. 1 CDMA network is now supported by India’s strongest GSM network. With this, Indians will have the unique proposition of being able to choose between two nationwide world class networks

Reliance Communications will, over the next few days, launch a nationwide enhanced GSM service covering over 1 billion people.

A launch covering 1 billion people in 24,000 towns and 600,000 villages is by far the widest one-time launch. In India, this coverage is being rolled out by the industry over 15 years since launch. In comparison, Reliance's network has covered a billion people within 11 months, having received start-up GSM spectrum only in January 2008. Despite the scale, the project is running 6 months ahead of schedule.

Compared to aging mobile networks prevalent today, Reliance's new 21st Century Network brings a number of innovations that our customers will experience over the next few days:

* Next-gen electronics for super digital voice clarity

* Seamless coverage on major railway routes, national and state highways through dedicated mobile towers

* Access to a Reliance owned fibre network for unlimited capacity - both in India and overseas, resulting in unmatched quality on local, STD or ISD calls

* Nationwide enhanced EDGE for fastest internet access speeds

* Stutter-free video capability including 16 TV channels, sports updates as well as access to popular video sharing websites like Youtube

* Widest R-World mobile content offering entertainment, music, news, cricket, bollywood, maps and search

* One-click set-up and access to email and social networking offering communication convenience of a PC

With the launch of its enhanced GSM service, Reliance's customers will be able to use the widest range of over 250 handsets and devices compared to any other operator in India. Reliance's customers can now roam on more networks globally in more than 200 countries - offering the widest choice available to customers in India.

"In 2003, Reliance changed the face of the telecom sector in India", said Mr. Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Communications. "Through our nationwide GSM launch coupled with Reliance's continued focus on our No. 1 CDMA network, we will once again endeavor to re-write the rules of the industry by offering our customers an unbeatable proposition across coverage, quality, service breadth, handset range and above all, value".

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