Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday, 29 August, announced a Rs 2 lakh crore investment in deploying 5G services, whose rollout is being planned in metro cities by Diwali.
Jio, the nation's largest telecom operator, has deployed standalone 5G rather than upgrading the existing 4G network to offer ultra-high speed internet, Ambani said at Reliance Industries' 45th annual general meeting (AGM).
The telecom operator will launch 5G services by Diwali in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. This will be expanded to other cities and towns in phases to cover all of India by December 2023, Ambani said.
Partnerships With Google, Qualcomm
After buying spectrum worth Rs 88,078 crore in the auctions, Reliance Jio said earlier this month that it was gearing up to roll out an advanced 5G network to make India a global leader in digital connectivity and solutions.
The company emphasised that it was fully ready for 5G rollout in the shortest period of time, backed by nationwide fibre presence, an all-IP network with no legacy infrastructure, an indigenous 5G stack, and strong global partnerships across the technology ecosystem.
"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."Mukesh Ambani
"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," he said.
With 5G in place, Jio plans to push internet of things (IOT)-enabled devices, Ambani said. "It will connect everyone, every place, and everything with the highest quality and most affordable data," he said.
Ambani said Jio made strong progress in fibre and FTTH deployment with a pan-India fibre-optic network of more than 11 lakh route kilometres. He said that two out of every three new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) customers were choosing 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.
Reliance Jio has partnered with Qualcomm to develop 5G solutions for India, Mukesh Ambani said. The firm is also partnering with Google to develop ultra-affordable 5G smartphones, he said.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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