NEW DELHI : India’s leading carrier, Reliance Jio, is set to introduce its 5G home broadband service, Jio AirFiber, on 19 September, seeking to cover 200 million homes, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani said. Besides, it also seeks to democratize artificial-intelligence (AI) access for all Indians, as the carrier moves to becoming a tech-co from a telco.
Ambani also outlined four key growth areas for the telco, including the consumer segment, powered by Jio 5G and Jio Bharat (a 5G device tailored for feature-phone users); home segment will benefit from Jio AirFiber; and the business segment and Jio Platforms will be focussing on global expansion.
The initiatives are expected to drive revenue and Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth for the company, he added.
“Here is my promise to our countrymen. Seven years ago, Jio promised broadband connectivity to everyone, everywhere. We delivered. Today Jio promises AI to everyone, everywhere. We shall deliver.”
Ambani said the conglomerate was rapidly expanding its talent pool and capabilities to assimilate the latest global innovations in AI, especially recent advances in Generative AI.
Jio Platforms will develop India-specific AI models and AI-powered solutions across domains and will create up to 2,000 megawatts (MW) of AI-ready computing capacity, across both cloud and edge locations, and adopt sustainable practices, he said.
“The strategic integration of AI/ML capabilities within their self-developed 5G Stack is advantageous and gives Jio bargaining power and a better understanding of network cost economics. If Jio succeeds with a modified portion of their 5G network running on the indigenous stack, Jio can scale it further by exporting to other operators globally,” said Neil Shah, partner, Counterpoint Research.
Jio AirFiber will be a fixed 5G wireless broadband offering with the ability to connect a far larger number since it will not need cables or optic fibre to provide last-mile connectivity to users, which is generally a key issue faced by telcos connecting home broadband.
Fiber connectivity currently connects nearly 15,000 premises each day, however, with Jio AirFiber, this capability will expand to 150,000 daily connections, Ambani added.
This impressive ten-fold increase is set to broaden the telco’s market significantly within three years. The goal is to cover 200 million high-paying homes and premises, he said. “Jio AirFiber will launch on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on 19 September, giving another avenue for customer value and revenue growth in untapped Indian homes segment.”
Additionally, Jio is also set to launch Jio True5G Lab, providing an avenue for technology partners and enterprise clients to jointly develop, test and create industry-specific solutions.
Ambani also announced the roll-out of Jio True5G Developer Platform, a comprehensive offering, seamlessly integrates 5G network capabilities, edge computing and a diverse range of applications and services, besides completing its pan-India 5G coverage by the end of December. It has so far covered 96% of census towns and amassed over 50 million 5G customers and 450 million mobile phone subscribers.
“This makes the fastest-ever 5G roll-out of this scale, globally. Today, nearly 85% of the 5G cells operational in India are Jio’s. We will have nearly 1 million 5G cells operational in our network by December.”
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Updated: 29 Aug 2023, 12:39 AM IST