Two-and-a-half years after Reliance Industries made a dramatic re-entry into telecom, it is yet to finalise a concrete plan of action to launch its much-hyped 4G technology services, according to sources from the company, industry and the vendor community.
In June 2010, when RIL bought Infotel Broadband Services for Rs 4,800 crore, a day after the company emerged as the only firm to win national broadband spectrum, it sparked off a furore in telecom circles. Since then, rivals have been on tenterhooks awaiting a big-bang launch and aggressive pricing from RIL; vendors have been on their toes anxious to win the big equipment contracts they bid for and employees have been on the edge, keen to get the project on the roads.
But for all of them, intense anticipation may be turning into frustration as the project has been slow to move despite RIL's famed project execution skills. Flux is what predominates RIL's 4G project now.
"I see nothing in the market...I see zero infrastructure (on the ground). Not much movement (elsewhere). So no worries, because I don't know what to be worried about," said the CEO of a leading telecom operator in the country. Another rival CEO also echoed similar thoughts. "We have all but given up (on getting equipment orders from RIL for the project)," a source from the vendor community admitted, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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