Reliance Communications (RCOM) was once a household name in Indian mobile phones, but today it is a fundamentally different animal - a business-to-business wireline and data-centre operator run by a court-appointed professional while a decade-long insolvency case inches forward. The company was built on a pan-India fibre optic network it still calls “the world’s largest next-generation IP-enabled connectivity infrastructure,” and that physical backbone is the recurring theme: every service it now sells, from a private corporate network to a rack in a data hall, travels over or lives inside its own cable and concrete. The consumer wireless business that made the brand famous has been shut down, and the entire group has been dismantled piece by piece under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code since 2018 - yet the core B2B engine keeps running, serving nearly 2,000 business and government customers while the ownership fight plays out in tribunal. # Business segments Two engines, one network - a domestic enterprise wireline and data-centre business that generates virtually all the revenue, and a shrinking international wholesale voice carrier that connects calls for other telcos. ## 1. India enterprise wireline and data centres: the B2B backbone **RCOM sells connectivity and server space to Indian businesses and government bodies over its own fibre and nine data centres - it is a landlord of digital plumbing, not a consumer brand.** - **Private networks for nearly 2,000 clients** - the company provides voice, long-distance, broadband access, and managed data-centre services to enterprises of every size, from multinational conglomerates to SMEs, across banking, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, IT, and media. - **Nine data centres in four cities** - colocation racks, shared IT infrastructure, and managed services run out of facilities in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, with a connected load of 5 MW at its Internet Data Center (IDC) from local grids and an energy-management certification at the largest site in Mumbai. - **Capacity sold like real estate** - a big chunk of revenue comes from selling Right of Use on fibre pairs or ducts for 15 to 20 years, recognised upfront on delivery, while shorter network-services contracts of up to three years are billed periodically over their life. - **The network is the moat** - the company’s own fibre optic cable systems and next-generation IP network carry everything, with no manufacturing or R&D spend; it simply operates and depreciates the assets, with fibre written down over 35 years and electronic equipment over 20. - **City-by-city expansion through partners** - a Channel Partner Program and a ‘City Connect’ initiative aim to wire new towns and high-potential pockets of large cities, while sharing agreements with other operators keep regulatory cash outflows and future capital expenditure low. ## 2. Global wholesale voice: a carrier for carriers **RCOM terminates international phone calls for other telcos - a shrinking, volume-driven business that connects to 190 countries through voice points of presence and carrier relationships.** - **Voice termination for the world’s operators** - the global unit sells wholesale voice minutes to mobile networks, fixed-line operators, Tier-1 carriers, calling-card companies, and OTT players, carrying traffic to almost every destination. - **A narrowing footprint** - country coverage has contracted from 230 destinations a few years ago to 190 today, reflecting a deliberate retreat from an operation that now contributes roughly 1% of segment revenue. - **Paid by the minute** - revenue is recognised as calls actually traverse the network, based on real usage rather than contracted commitments. # Group structure and partners **RCOM is a parent company in legal limbo - its board is suspended, a resolution professional runs the show, and almost every subsidiary has been sold, liquidated, or deconsolidated through insolvency proceedings.** - **The insolvency clock has been ticking since 2018** - the company entered the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process on 15 May 2018; a resolution plan from UV Asset Reconstruction Company (later substituted to UV Stressed Assets Management) was approved by creditors in March 2020 but remains stuck before the NCLT. - **The tower arm was carved out and sold** - Reliance Infratel, which built and leased passive telecom infrastructure to wireless operators, had its resolution plan approved in December 2020 and ceased to be a subsidiary in December 2022, with Reliance Projects & Property Management Services taking 100% ownership for a total resolution amount not exceeding ₹3,720 crores. - **The global subsea unit was lost in a US bankruptcy** - GCX Limited and its 26 entities across 14 countries filed for Chapter 11 in 2019 after defaulting on USD 350 million of notes; bondholders took ownership and RCOM was divested of its equity for nil consideration. - **Two key property-holding subsidiaries face enforcement action** - Reliance Realty owns the 132-acre Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City campus in Navi Mumbai, while Campion Properties holds the Delhi office property; both had their assets provisionally attached by the Directorate of Enforcement in late 2025 under money-laundering laws. - **The subsidiary count has collapsed** - from 88 entities in 2020 to 36 by 2022, with further deregistrations and liquidations since, including the liquidation of the IT-services arm Reliance Tech Services after no buyer emerged.