India's Reliance Jio partners with Microsoft to further expand its technology industry
The telecom arm of one of the biggest conglomerates of India, Reliance Jio, has entered into a long-term partnership with Microsoft. The 3.5 year old subsidiary of Reliance, that seriously disrupted the mobile and smartphone market, is planning to roll out its broadband service from the 5th of September 2019.
With respect to its partnership with the global tech giant, Reliance Jio has signed a 10-year agreement, whereby it will launch multiple cloud data centres in India with which more of Jio’s customers will be able to access the tools and platforms they require to strengthen their digital capabilities, such as for blockchain-enabled platforms, food tracking, logistical solutions and more.
The first two data centres will be set up in the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra by 2020.
Moreover, Microsoft will bring its Azure cloud technology to Reliance’s data centres; and they will jointly offer Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft AI platforms to organisations in the country, helping them in their digital transformation. The could service will be made accessible and affordable, being offered from as little as INR 1500 ($21) per month.
Details of Reliance Jio offer
The ambitious plans of Reliance Jio are being widely speculated for profitability and how the other local players will compete. Named Jio Fibre, the plans start from mere INR 700 ($9.8), offering internet speeds from 100 Mbps, free landline connection with free voice calls in India and unlimited international calls to the US and Canada for just INR 500 ($7).
Premium and annual subscribers get even more benefits with a 4K TV, set top box, streaming of movies on the say of its launch (starting 2020) and a lot more.
It plans to power more than 1 billion devices by 1 January 2020 — slightly less than 4 months since its planned launch. Its initial target is to bring the service to 20 million homes and 15 million SME and large corporation businesses across 1600 towns. Considering every home has between 4 and 10 devices, and businesses have a lot more, the 1 billion device target does sound achievable, on the condition that it manages to get as many subscribers.
Given Reliance’s value-for-money offer and the growing market in second and third-tier cities, towns, and rural areas, the ambitious plan could be realised. However, historically speaking, Reliance’s earlier introductions of mobile phones and network saw many people lured by “free stuff” subscribe at the launch, but complaints regarding the service drops and unhelpful customer service led to many switching service providers.
