By December 2015, 4G Smartphones Under Rs 4,000: Mukesh Ambani

Mangalore Today Network-1

Mumbai: June 12, 2015: Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, will launch its much-awaited 4G services by December this year. This was disclosed on Friday by Mr Ambani at the annual general meeting of shareholders.

Mr Ambani said that Jio is in the final testing phase and is aiming at commercial launch of its services by December. The chief of Reliance Industries also said it would make available 4G-supported smartphones in markets at a price below Rs 4,000 by partnering with various handset makers.

Reliance Jio plans to provide 4G services using LTE technology in 800MHz, 1800MHz and 2300MHz bands. Besides nationwide spectrum in the 2,300 MHz band, Reliance also holds spectrum the 800 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands in 20 of the country’s 22 telecom circles.

Mr Ambani also said a range of digital services will be launched through its Reliance Jio platform. Reliance Jio network will cover 80 per cent of India’s population by end of the year, he said.

Mr Ambani described its Reliance Jio venture as one of the largest transformational green-field digital initiatives in the world. Reliance had last year announced a spending of Rs 70,000 crore for rolling out telecom services.

Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India, said the launch of Reliance Jio would make the prices of services very competitive. Rating agency Fitch had earlier said that data tariffs may fall 20 per cent with Reliance Jio’s entry.

Shares of Reliance Industries ended 2 per cent higher on Friday as compared to a flat close for Sensex