Reliance AGM 2020: The Major Developments

September 5th, 2016 Reliance Industries owned Jio announced its commercial launch for the people of India. Since then, Jio has been a market disruptor and changed the face of the Indian Telecom Industry. Before Jio, the other telecom aggregators charged an exorbitant amount just to connect to the internet, a necessity of the 21st Century's Digital Age. According to "cable.co.uk" India has the lowest data prices in the world at $0.26 or ₹18 for 1 GB. Before Jio it was priced anywhere between ₹250 to ₹300.

Due to this aggressive pricing strategy, the company quickly made a name for itself and gathered a huge subscriber base as it offered voice and data services free of cost for 3 months to everyone who had a Jio sim card. As quoted by the company, Jio acquired 100 million users in 170 days which is said to be the fastest in the world. As of Jan 2020, Jio has the highest subscriber base in India which has led to a series of investment in the company. 

At the first virtual Reliance Annual General Meeting, Mr Mukesh Ambani announced that big corporations such as Facebook, Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Aramco, and many more have invested a total of  ₹1,52,055 Crores. This series of funding has let Reliance Industries, the parent company of Jio to be net debt free which is a piece of great news for investors and the future generation that will be new leaders of the company. The company excited with these developments also showed the next big things that will shape the future of the company's product and service line-up. Without further ado, let's take a look at the key offerings by Jio in the future.

JIO 5G SERVICES

Even though it is laughable but still a lot of conspiracy theories say that 5G is the likely cause of Corona or it will be used to mind control us. Still, it is something everyone wants to use as soon as possible. With the introduction of 5G, users can expect an average speed of 50 Mbps and a peak speed of 10 Gbps. It will be very beneficial for the automotive, health and manufacturing industries. 

Jio has claimed that they are ready for a 5G rollout as soon as the government starts spectrum sales. The great news about the Jio 5G services is it is homegrown. It has been developed from scratch and clearly promotes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission of "Atma Nirbhar Bharat" amidst the Boycott China movement. 

AFFORDABLE 5G PHONE

The current 5G devices are priced very high and are not affordable for most of the Indian population. Jio along with Google has partnered to build a low-end smartphone with 5G capabilities. This poses a major threat for Chinese Smartphone makers such as Xiaomi and BBK Technologies which owns OnePlus, Realme, Oppo and Vivo. Partnering with Google will also create a good user experience for first-time users as well.

JIO TV+

Taking the advantage of the upcoming high data speeds of 5G in the future Akash Ambani demonstrated how Jio TV+ User Interface(UI) will combine 12 major Over the Top services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Hotstar, Sony LIV and many more. One of the main features of Jio TV+ is that it allows users a single login instead of separate login for each application. 

JIOMART

The direct competitor to companies such as Big Basket and Grofers has already been rolled out to a lot of cities and is currently in the beta programme. JioMart works with local Kirana(Grocery) Stores and its Reliance Fresh stores across the country to deliver the items you require. JioMart plans to integrate with Whatsapp and take orders on it. Whatsapp is used by every Internet user in India to connect to others and will create an ease of ordering over other companies. In the future, JioMart plans to complete with Online Store goliaths, Amazon and Flipkart. The introduction of JioMart will be very beneficial for the local sellers as they now have a medium to compete with big grocery chains. 

JIO MEET AND EMBIBE 

This lockdown has been very tough for students, teachers as well as schools. Students due to the lack of traditional classes have been not able to progress. Some schools have started Zoom classes but are often cut short due to the time limit. This is where JioMeet comes in handy as it allows users to have meetings with up to 1000 participants for 24 hours without any interruption. Even though it is being called a copycat, JioMeet is definitely a good option for schools. Apart from this Embibe, an online learning platform has also been very beneficial to students as well as teachers to upgrade their skill sets and shorten the educational gap where quality teachers are not available.

JIO GLASS

Last but not the least, Jio Glass was also announced by the company. It is a Mixed Reality solution by the company which will allow users to make video calls and attend meetings in a 3D Holographic Environment. Weighing at just 75 grams, users can connect to the glasses using their smartphones. Even though Mixed Reality is still not in the advanced stages, this is one project that really gets me excited. 

In this AGM Reliance has shown tremendous support for #VocalforLocal, Affordability and Tech Advancements for the future. Hope you liked my review and subscribe for future updates.