Three biggest telecom companies in India – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea – have come together to raise concern about the mobile connectivity problem on Mumbai Metro‘s underground Aqua Line 3. They claim that the current setup could further delay commuters’ ability to use the network without any issues.
According to Mid-Day, the telecom companies have sent a letter to Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (MMRCL) voicing concern over the new tender for in-building solutions (IBS), which are needed to provide mobile coverage inside underground stations and tunnels. The companies have instead proposed a different plan that they think can get services back up and running more quickly.
Why do telecom corporations not want the new tender?
According to Midday, the letter came after MMRCL ended its previous IBS contract with ACES India, a subsidiary of a corporation located in Saudi Arabia, and put out a new tender on March 20, 2026. The Indian Express stated that the underground line was experiencing a complete network blackout. The previous agreement had previously run into problems over business terms, which made mobile coverage patchy or nonexistent network.
The Indian Express says that Reliance Jio offered to provide neutral telecom infrastructure for the corridor that any networks could use. It also said it will buy the infrastructure that was already in place for shared use. As per a report by Mid-Day, Airtel and Vodafone Idea supported the plan.
What do the operators have to say about the fees?
The telecom companies have raised concern about the terms of MMRCL’s latest offer. The Indian Express stated that the companies claimed in the combined letter, “No TSP will therefore provide any comfort letter to any IBS provider.” They said that MMRCL was aiming to collect “exorbitant Right of Way (RoW) charges under the guise of space charges through their fresh tender.”
The operators said that this kind of pricing could cause rollout to be delayed again. The Indian Express reported that they added, “Such (space) charges are not in line with the principle of ‘just compensation’ and could delay the timely deployment of telecom infrastructure.”
The tender reserve price was about Rs 1,000 per sq ft for station areas that were unsuable. This is a lot less than the Rs 250-300 per sq ft pricing for quality commercial property in Nariman Point.
What proposal have they come up with?
The operators told MMRCL to cancel the existing tender and find a speedier way to fix the mobile connectivity on the operational underground line.