Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea jointly oppose MMRCL’s new Metro Line 3 tender

Commuters inside an Aqua Line 3 train amid the ongoing mobile network blackout. Pic/Satej Shinde

In a rare show of unity, India's top telecom operators - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea - have written to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL), raising objections to its fresh tender for in-building solutions (IBS) on Metro Line 3 and warning of delays in restoring mobile connectivity.

The move comes after MMRCL terminated its earlier IBS contract with Saudi-based ACES and floated a new tender on March 20. In their letter, accessed by mid-day, the telcos flagged commuter inconvenience and said Reliance Jio has already applied for right-of-way (ROW) permissions to deploy infrastructure across stations and tunnels, with all operators backing a single-network approach.

They have refused to issue "comfort letters" to vendors, alleging the tender imposes "exorbitant" charges - citing a reserve price of around '1000 per sq ft, far higher than Mumbai's prime commercial rates of '250-300.

Calling the pricing unjust, the telcos have urged MMRCL to scrap the tender and instead allow direct deployment or use of existing infrastructure to restore services quickly. MMRCL did not respond at the time of going to press.