Cable ops need to fear as RILreadies Jio launch in 2015 with

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MUMBAI: Cable TV and direct-to-home (DTH)
operators will face new competition as
Reliance Jio readies to launch 4G services next
year with a mammoth investment plan of Rs
70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) in the business.
Rolling out in phases across India from 2015,
the high-speed data as well as voice services
will have entertainment as a big part of its
strategic offering. Subscribers will get on offer
television channels, video-on-demand service
and a facility to automatically store TV shows
for a specific number of days on cloud.
The acquisition of Network18 and TV18 only
emphasizes the importance video content will
play in driving data traffic. This will be one
important aspect of Reliance Jio’s digital
services play. The grab will be to get into the
consumer homes and make a total offering at a
lucrative price that will cover broadband,
communication, information and television
channels.
Speaking about the acquisition of Network18 ,
Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh
Ambani said: “This will differentiate and
strengthen our 4G business at the unique
intersects of telecom, web and digital
commerce, and the media through a suite of
premier digital properties.” He was speaking at
RIL’s 40th AGM.
RIL’s play in the television business includes
TV18 entertainment and news channels like
Colors, MTV, Vh1, Nick, Comedy Central, CNN
IBN, IBN 7, CNBC TV18, Awaaz and IBN
Lokmat. The ETV channels are also under the
company’s belt. Reliance Jio is also stitching
content deals with other broadcasters.
Ambani also has a presence in the sports
business through its IPL franchise Mumbai
Indians and a JV with IMG. He is absent in
sports broadcasting but that could be part of
the agenda.
According to the RIL annual report, Jio will
stretch across “various digital domains of
national interest such as education, healthcare,
security, financial services, government citizen
interfaces and entertainment”.
The scale of operations is unprecedented in the
annals of Indian business as a fibre optic
network is being built across the country.
Among other technologies, Jio will use fibre to
the location and has already activated WiFi in
several pockets of the country.
There are over 10,000 full-time Jio employees
working alongside nearly 30,000 professionals
from partners and vendors from across the
globe.
“In addition, there are over 100,000 people
working across the country in creating the
digital infrastructure backbone for this
network. They are passionate about building
the largest broadband network that the world
has ever seen. Reliance Jio will be one of the
largest job-creating and wealth-creating
business initiatives in India,” Ambani said.
As per the plan, the network and broadband
services will be ubiquitous—initially covering
all states, all the 5,000 towns and cities
accounting for over 90 per cent of urban India
and over 215,000 villages in India. Eventually,
the network will encompass each of over
600,000 villages in the country.
The company plans to commence expanded
field trials in August across multiple cities.
“These trials would continue through the end
of 2014 and early part of 2015. The objective
is to ensure that everything that we offer is
future-proof and world-class,” Ambani said.
He further added that the year 2015 will see
the phased launch of Reliance Jio across India.
“Millions of customers would have started to
use the digital platform and services in their
daily lives. The fruits of the tremendous value
created by this Rs 70,000 crore initiative would
start to flow. This value creation would be on a
base of 1.25 billion Indians, with an
opportunity to include all sections of our
society in the exciting promise of the digital
economy,” he said.
Addressing the shareholders at the RIL AGM,
Ambani said RIL’s vision and goals for Reliance
Jio are ‘overarching’. “Besides providing the
base broadband connectivity to all citizens, the
digital infrastructure and digital services have
the potential to add significantly to India’s GDP
growth. Millions of new entrepreneurs and jobs
can be expected to spring up in secondary and
tertiary sectors in new and innovative digital
enterprises and services.”
He added that his aim is to make every piece
of critical information available to all citizens
at the touch of a button. “Reliance Jio is the
future that Reliance is building for the
generations to follow. They deserve to be on a
par with the best in the world—whether in
education or health care or security for their
families,” Ambani said.
Reliance Jio will leverage on the emerging data
explosion concurrent with the large volume
and criticality of data traffic and data-driven
applications for individuals, governments,
businesses and enterprises of all hues, in urban
and rural areas.
Cable operators, beware. Mukesh Ambani is
coming and, as he says, Reliance Jio “will be
RIL’s most transformative business”.
Also Read:
Watch out for Mukesh Ambani’s media play
 
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