Bharti Infratel hits new high

Bharti Infratel is a big gainer on the bourses today and it has hit a new 52-week high at Rs.214. It has come off the high but remains over 6% higher.

The stock has hit a high on the back of news that it has entered into a tower sharing agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom unit of Reliance Industries.  Under the agreement, Reliance Jio would utilize the telecom tower infrastructure of Bharti Infratel to launch its services across the country. As per the agreement, the pricing would be at ‘arm’s length,’ based on prevailing market rates.

Reliance Jio will use these towers to expedite the launch of its services on a pan-India level. This deal is aimed at avoiding duplication of infrastructure, wherever possible, and to preserve capital and the environment. The agreement will help Reliance Jio thus go for a faster roll out of our services across the country.

Bharti Airtel, with a consolidated portfolio of over 82,000 telecom towers, which includes over 35,000 of its own towers and the balance from its 42% equity interest in Indus Towers, makes it one of the largest tower infrastructure providers in the country with presence in all 22 telecom circles.

It is widely expected that Reliance Jio will hire nearly 5000 towers from Bharti and this means, it will start adding around Rs.200 crore from FY15 as rental income.