Reliance 5G Rollout: Swedish export credit agency extends $ 2.2 bn fund to finance equipment

The country's largest telecom player Reliance Jio has received a USD 2.2 billion fund support from the Swedish export credit agency to finance equipment for the 5G rollout, according to Reliance Industries' annual report.

The company has largely procured telecom gears from Swedish firm Ericsson and Finnish company Nokia to deploy its 5G network.

"RJIL tied up its first-ever Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN) supported facilities of USD 2.2 billion equivalent making it the largest cover ever provided by EKN for a deal to a private corporate globally. The proceeds of the facilities shall be utilised to finance the equipment and services in relation to RJIL's pan-India 5G roll out," Reliance Industries Ltd said in its annual report.

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While there has been a decline in telecom gear shipment across major geographies, 5G rollout in India led by Reliance Jio has been able to offset the dip in business of Ericsson and Nokia.

Ericsson reported 74 per cent growth in net sales in the June 2023 quarter in "South East Asia, Oceania and India" to around Rs 10,700 crore of which around 90 per cent of its business comes from India.

Nokia posted 333 per cent growth in India sales at about Rs 9,500 crore in the June quarter of 2023.

Jio said that it is now providing wireless broadband services in about 6.2 lakh rural villages and 5G coverage to over 2,300 cities and towns.

Jio in the report said that it has around 80 per cent share in total 5G base station rolled out across the country and providing 5G service with an average download speed of 300 megabit per second.

The company also developed its own indigenous technology for 5G networks.

"In the Digital Services business too, Reliance continued to file multiple patents. Total count of patent applications filed worldwide is 1,120. Among the key areas covered by these patents are 5G and 6G technologies, and Distributed Ledger Technology," the report said.

According to the report, Jio's technology professionals filed for 123 patents and were granted 41 patents, taking the total count of patents granted to 177 till March 31, 2023.

"These span across network, consumer and enterprise technology," the report said. The digital service provider firm added over 70,000 employees during the financial 2022-23, as per the report.