Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL) hit the upper circuit filter of 20 percent at Rs 12.69 on reports that Reliance Industries ( RIL) plans to roll out its 4G network in partnership with the company.

“RIL plans to roll out its 4G network in partnership with HFCL, the group from which it acquired pan-India airwaves for high-speed internet and data services in May 2010,” an ET report said.

“According to people familiar with the development, Reliance-owned Infotel Broadband will focus on key aspects of the network and monitor the rollout, but will leave ground-level execution and management to HFCL, which has prior experience of similar deployment,” the report added.

In May 2010, Reliance Industries acquired a 95 percent stake in Infotel from HFCL Group and announced an investment of Rs 4,800 crore. Infotel is the only company with all-India airwaves for high-speed data services, which it won in an auction for Rs 12,848 crore.

RIL’s return to the telecom sector after a decade is being eagerly tracked and could shake up the telephony and high-speed data services markets.

It is the only operator in the country that will have an all-India 4G network, and industry experts expect it to replicate its entry strategy for mobile voice services in the early 2000s, when it offered subsidised handsets and cheap call rates that transformed the telecom market.

At 10:54 a.m., shares of Reliance Industries Ltd were trading 0.4 percent higher at Rs 691.35. The stock has hit a high of Rs 694.10 and a low of Rs 686 in trade so far.