Reliance Jio 5G services to launch in metropolitan cities by Diwali: Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced Monday that the company would roll out 5G services in metropolitan cities for Diwali. He also reported that Reliance Jio had allocated Rs. 2 lakh crore investment for the 5G network. Ambani provided the information at the 45th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries. Jio will launch 5G services by Diwali in the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, Ambani said, adding that this will expand to every city, tehsil and talukas across the country within 18 months, that is, in December 2023.

He further said that Jio had implemented a separate 5G stack instead of upgrading the existing 4G network to offer ultra-high-speed internet. "To build our pan-India true 5G network, we have committed a total investment of Rs. 2 lakh crore. Jio has prepared the fastest ever and most ambitious 5G rollout plan for a country of our size. Within the next two months. That is by Diwali, we will launch Jio 5G across multiple key cities including metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata," Ambani said, as quoted by PTI.

Jio has partnered with Qualcomm to develop 5G solutions for India, Ambani said. He added that the firm is partnering with Google to create ultra-affordable 5G smartphones and Google Cloud.

Ambani, during the AGM, said that with 5G underway, Jio would launch billions of smart sensors with connected intelligence that will activate the Internet of Things and fuel the fourth Industrial Revolution. "It will connect everyone, every place and everything with the highest quality and most affordable data," he said.

He further added that Jio had made significant progress in fiber and FTTH deployment with a pan-India fiber optic network of more than 11 lakh route kilometres. He said two out of three new fiber to the home (FTTH) customers choose JioFiber.

"India is ranked 138th in the world in fixed broadband adoption. Jio will take India to be among the top 10 globally in fixed broadband adoption," Ambani said, as quoted by PTI.

Reliance Jio Infocomm bought more than $11 billion worth of airwaves at a local spectrum auction as it sought to cement its lead over smaller rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd. in rolling out faster 5G networks. That will be key to increasing revenue and attracting high-value users.