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Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
Company typePrivate limited company
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded2007 (2007) - Mumbai, India
HeadquartersMumbai, India
(Head office)
Navi Mumbai, India
(Registered office)
Area served
India
Key people
Sanjay Mashruwalla (Managing Director)
Jyotindra Thacker (Head of IT)
Akash Ambani (Chief of Strategy) [1]
ProductsMobile telephony, broadband, and 4G Data services
Revenue11,000,000,000 United States dollar (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
1,600,000,000 United States dollar (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
Total assets38,000,000,000 United States dollar (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
OwnerMukesh Ambani
ParentReliance Industries
Websitewww.jio.com

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, abbreviated as RJIL, and also known as Reliance Jio, R-Jio, or simply Jio,[2] is an upcoming provider of mobile telephony, broadband services, and digital services in India. Formerly known as Infotel Broadband Services Limited, Reliance Jio will provide 4G services on a pan-India level using LTE technology.[3] The telecom leg of Reliance Industries Limited, it was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Mumbai, India.

The service will be launched in the beginning of the financial year 2016-17.[4]

History

In June 2010, Reliance Industries bought a 95% stake in Infotel Broadband for Rs 4,800 crore. Although unlisted, Infotel was the only firm to win broadband spectrum in all 22 zones in India in the 4G auction that took place earlier that year.[5] Later continuing as RIL's telecom subsidiary, Infotel Broadband Services Limited was renamed to Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) in January 2013.[6]

Operations

In June 2015, RJIL announced that it will start its operations all over the country by the end of 2015.[7] However, four months later in October 2015, the company's spokesmen sent out a press release mentioning that the launch was postponed to the first quarter of the financial year 2016-2017.[8]

Later in July, a PIL filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO called the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, through Prashant Bhushan, challenged the grant of pan-India licence to RJIL by the Government of India. The PIL also alleged that RJIL was allowed to provide voice telephony along with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fees of just ₹165.8 crore (US$20 million) which was arbitrary and unreasonable, and contributed to a loss of ₹2,284.2 crore (US$270 million) to the exchequer.[9][10]

The Indian Department of Telecom (DoT), however, refuted all of CAG's claims where it alleged that the company's takeover of the ISP was a wrongdoing and the government had allowed it blindly. DoT in its reply had explained that the rules for 3G and BWA spectrum before a 2010 auction didn't restrict BWA winners from providing voice telephony. As a result, the PIL was revoked, after which RIL's spokesperson dismissed all the charges. [11]

Products and Services

Reliance Jio 4G Broadband

The company will launch its 4G data services throughout India in the first quarter of 2016-2017 financial year.[12] It was slated to release in December 2015 after some reports said that the company was waiting to receive final permits from the government.[13] Mukesh Ambani, the owner of Reliance Industries (RIL) whose Reliance Jio is the telecom subsidiary, had unveiled details of Jio's fourth-generation (4G) services on June 12, 2015 at RIL's 41st annual general meeting. It will offer data and voice services with peripheral services like instant messaging, live TV, movies on demand, news, streaming music and a digital payments platform.[14]

Ahead of its digital services launch, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio entered into a spectrum sharing deal with younger brother Anil Ambani-backed Reliance Communications. The sharing deal is for 800 MHz band across seven circles. RJIL owns spectrum in 800 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands in 20 of the total 22 circles in the country, and also has 2,300 MHz spectrum across all the 22 circles in the country. Of this, the 800 MHz band is the most efficient.[15]

The company has a network of more than 250,000 km of fiber optic cables in the country, over which it will be partnering with local cable operators to get broader connectivity for its broadband services. This will enable it to offer complementary services such as fixed (or landline) telephony, television channels, and video on-demand.[16] With its multi-service operator (MSO) licence, RJIL will also serve as a TV channel distributor and will offer television-on-demand on its network.

Statewide Roll-out

On October 28, 2015, deputy chief minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Badal, announced that RJIL would serve the whole state with high-speed mobile broadband services even before the firm launches its services nationwide in 2016. Jio has already invested ₹3,900 crore (US$470 million) in Punjab, which once the project is executed, will become the first state in India where every single village which will be covered with mobile broadband connectivity.[17][18][19]

LYF 4G Smartphones

Jio has tied up with domestic handset maker Intex to supply 4G handsets enabled with voice over LTE (VoLTE) feature. Through this, it plans to offer 4G voice calling, besides rolling out high-speed Internet services using a fiber network,[20] in addition to the 4G wireless network.[21]

On October 16, 2015, Reliance Indudstries' retail sector brand, Reliance Retail announced that the company is set to launch its 4G smartphones under the brand name LYF (pronounced 'life') in association with RJIL. Although it had tied up with Intex for the same, the company has decided to build their own brand before rolling out their digital services all over India in the first quarter of 2016-2017. However, it will keep its ties with the domestic handset maker, adding it to the list of various smartphone makers that RJIL has tied up with, so as to back the country's Make in India digital campaign. It plans to sell LYF phones through its wide distribution and retail networks as well as multi-brand outlets and Reliance Retail stores.[22]

LYF smartphones will be made by CK Telecom, an equipment manufacturer based in Heyuan in Guangdong, China. Priced at ₹4,000 (US$48), they will have features like Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWi-FI), HD Voice, and HD quality video calling, and are slated to be released sometime in November 2015. Other than this, RJIL has also tied up with other Chinese electronics firms, ZTE Corp and BYD, to launch handsets and wifi dongles.[23]

Jionet WiFi

Prior to its pan-India launch of 4G data and telephony services, Jio has started providing free Wi-Fi hotspot services in cities throughout India including Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat,[24] select locations of Mumbai in Maharashtra,[25] Kolkata in West Bengal,[26] Lucknow,[27] Bhubaneswar in Odisha,[28] and Mussoorie[29] among others.

On October 25, 2015, during the one-day international (ODI) between India and South Africa, RJIL offered its Wi-Fi hotspot services at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A record-breaking 2.2 TB of data, at an average of 156 MB per user, was consumed by the 14,500 spectators for which a company spokesman opined, “Spectators lapped up the Jionet services, breaking all records of fastest average speed delivered per person and adoption rate (percentage of spectators who used the service in a stadium).”[30]

On November 2, 2015, Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) announced that it had tied up with RJIL to provide 4G Wi-Fi services at selected 10 bus terminals of Dehradun, Roorkee, Haldwani, Kashipur, Ramnagar, Tanakpur, Kotdwar, Rishikesh, and Ranikhet. On October 31, a bus stand in Haridwar became the first location in the state to receive Jio Wi-Fi.[31]

Jio Chat

File:Reliance Jio Chat Official Logo.png
Jio Chat Official Logo

It is an instant messaging application for Android and Apple iOS users that was launched earlier in 2015. Operated by Reliance Jio Messaging Services Pvt Ltd, it provides messaging over internet, video and voice calling.[32][33] In September 2015, the application crossed 2 million downloads.[34]

Jio Money Merchant

Earlier in October 2015, Reliance Jio announced that it had started testing its mobile wallet service called Jio Money Merchant which is meant for professional service providers such as small and large businessmen, traders, tutors and shopkeepers. The service is slated to be launched around December 2015.[35]

CSR Activities

In October 2015, RJIL tied up with IT service management company Capgemini to launch a campaign about digital life in India. A challenge was thrown open to people who were asked to innovate on the idea of a digital ecosystem and how it can "transform the way knowledge is imparted across all parts of the country, and especially considering the language inability, multilingual culture, and size of India."[36]

References

  1. ^ Mukesh Ambani's son Akash joins Reliance Industries; begins at telecom arm Reliance Jio, The Economic Times
  2. ^ R-Jio likely to drop ‘R’ from brand name as it prepares for 4G roll-out, Live Mint
  3. ^ Reliance Jio Infocomm plans to launch pan-India LTE, RCR Wireless News
  4. ^ Reliance Jio likely to delay its December pan-India launch, Live Mint
  5. ^ Reliance Industries buys 95% stake in Infotel Broadband for Rs 4,800 cr, The Economic Times Business Line
  6. ^ RIL's Infotel Broadband renamed Reliance Jio Infocomm, The Times of India Business Line
  7. ^ Reliance Jio to launch commercial operations by December; to alter telecom industry landscape, say experts, The Economic Times
  8. ^ Reliance Jio likely to delay its December pan-India launch, Live Mint
  9. ^ "Petition against 4G licence to Reliance Jio: Apex court seeks Centre's reply". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Reliance Jio goes for the kill". Rediff.com. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  11. ^ "DoT refutes CAG's charges of favouring Reliance Jio by allowing it to convert its ISP permit into a unified license". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  12. ^ Reliance Jio likely to delay its December pan-India launch, Live Mint
  13. ^ Reliance Jio to launch commercial operations by December; to alter telecom industry landscape, say experts, The Economic Times
  14. ^ Reliance to launch Jio by Dec, set to kick off pricing war, Business Standard
  15. ^ Reliance Jio to share RCom spectrum in seven circles, The Hindu Business Line
  16. ^ Reliance Jio looking to partner local cable firms in broadband push, Livemint
  17. ^ Reliance Jio to cover Punjab with mobile broadband, The Economic Times
  18. ^ Reliance Jio mobile broadband to cover each and every village of Punjab, Business Insider - India
  19. ^ Reliance Jio makes Rs 3,900 crore investment in Punjab: Mukesh Ambani, Telecom Lead - India
  20. ^ Reliance Jio to roll out broadband service on fibre across 900 cities, The Economic Times
  21. ^ Intex ties up with Reliance Jio to supply 4G handsets, The Indian Express
  22. ^ Reliance set to launch 4G smart phone ‘LYF’ soon, Hindustan Times
  23. ^ Reliance Jio’s LYF 4G phone to take on Lenovo K3 Note from next week, Real Time News - Asia
  24. ^ Reliance Jio offers strategic Wi-Fi hotspot free services to increase user base, Mobiletor
  25. ^ Reliance Jio launches unlimited free WiFi in Mumbai for Ganesh Utsav, The Indian Express
  26. ^ Reliance Jio Introduces Free Public Wifi in Kolkata, How to Use Jionet Wifi ?, Telecom Talk
  27. ^ Reliance Jio launches free Wi-Fi service in Lucknow's Hazratganj, Economic Times - Telecom
  28. ^ Reliance Jio Launches 4G Wi-Fi Internet Service in Bhubaneswar, Gadgets 360
  29. ^ Mussoorie, the First Hill Station to receive Reliance Jio’s Wi-Fi Service, Reliance News
  30. ^ ODI at Wankhede Stadium saw record data consumption on Jio's bandwidth, Business Standard
  31. ^ Soon passengers to avail free Wi-Fi at 10 bus terminals in Uttarakhand, Nyoooz
  32. ^ Jio Chat, Jio Chat Website
  33. ^ Jio Chat Messenger for Android, Google Play
  34. ^ Reliance Jio Chat app crosses 2 million users in less than six months of launch, The Economic Times
  35. ^ Reliance Jio starts testing mobile wallet service, Live Mint
  36. ^ Innovators' Race by Capgemini, in association with Reliance Jio, Innovators' Race by Capgemini

See also

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