Jio’s 5G rollout in second half of ’21
Firm to use locally developed network and hardware
New Delhi, Dec. 8: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has urged the government to accelerate the rollout of fifth-generation (5G) telecom services and scrap outdated 2G technology, run mainly by rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd.
"As many as 300 million mobile subscribers in India are still trapped in the 2G era," Ambani said in a speech on Tuesday at the India Mobile Congress. "I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G revolution in India in the second half of 2021."
Ambani's push for these policy measures will give an unparalleled edge to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Ambani's telecom unit which disrupted the sector in 2016 with an intense tariff war and is now the country's top wireless operator.
Being a new network built for data-heavy services, Jio doesn't have 2G wireless phone users, unlike Bharti and Vodafone Idea. Ambani has often said that Jio is ready for 5G while its competitors--indebted and lossmaking-- will find it harder to keep up with such investments.
Ambani also wants deeper penetration and easier availability of smartphones. "Urgent policy steps are needed to ensure that these underprivileged people have an affordable smartphone," he said on Tuesday.
Reliance
Industries
had
asked local suppliers to ramp up production capacity in India to as many as
200 million smartphones over the next two years, Bloomberg reported in September. The group was then in talks with domestic assemblers to make a version of its Jio phone that would run on Google's Android and cost about Rs
4,000.
Ambani also pitched for developing hardware manufacturing in India, saying the nation cannot rely on imports in a critical area.
5G enables connecting virtually everyone and everything together, including machines, objects, and devices.
India, he said, is today among the best digitally connected nations in the world.
"In order to maintain this lead, policy steps are needed to accelerate the early rollout of 5G, and to make it affordable and available everywhere," he said.
Jio's 5G will be powered by the indigenously developed network, hardware and technology components. "Jio's 5G service will be a testimony to your inspiring vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat."
Jio and other service providers such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea offer 4G services. The country however also has a 2G network that supports only voice calling and text messaging.
"I can say with utmost confidence that 5G will enable India to not only participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution but also to lead it," he said.
As the digitalisation of the Indian economy and Indian society picks up speed, the demand for digital hardware will grow enormously.
Stating that many leading global companies are coming to India to set up manufacturing facilities, he said the country has developed world-class strengths in chip design.
"I clearly foresee India becoming a major hub for the state-of-the-art semiconductor industry," he said. Jio Platforms, with its family of over 20 start-up partners, has built worldclass capabilities in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, machine learning, the internet of things and blockchain. "We are creating compelling homegrown solutions in education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, financial services and new commerce," he said.