Reliance Jio - Pan India 4G / LTE network

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

I am loving it...

[rachitgpt 4]

airtel broadband will fall on its foot after a very long time of their dadagiri!!

[sliver1 102]

Rs.10 for 1gb of data...that is really great news

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Plz read carefully... It was written Rs10 per GigaBIT, so comes to Rs80/GB, but still good price for the possible speed (comes close to MBlaze999 for 12GB data) and I guess that may be applicable for high-rental plans only...

Anyway much better than 3x and 3G plans of today, imho...

[inception 75]

If RIL buys out Qualcomm's mumbai and Delhi spectrum at whatever the cost, it will create a perfect monopoly as these two markets will generate around 25% of total data revenue because Airtel can not enter into these two metro circles. In the battle of Titans Mittal will be lost to Mukhesh Bhai!

[inception 75]

Plz read carefully... It was written Rs10 per GigaBIT, so comes to Rs80/GB, but still good price for the possible speed (comes close to MBlaze999 for 12GB data) and I guess that may be applicable for high-rental plans only...

Anyway much better than 3x and 3G plans of today, imho...

Read it here: http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/telecommunications/20111103102298.htm it says GB, big B means Byte

ET has shown many such mistakes like 10p/10kb !

[me_saket 73]

If RIL buys out Qualcomm's mumbai and Delhi spectrum at whatever the cost, it will create a perfect monopoly as these two markets will generate around 25% of total data revenue because Airtel can not enter into these two metro circles. In the battle of Titans Mittal will be lost to Mukhesh Bhai!

agree with u, Mumbai and Delhi along with other metro will have 25% or even more market share.

and if RIL buy Qualcomm, then it will reduce competition from 2 payer to NIL.

but what will stop airtel entering in these two market? they can always bid for Qualcomm spectrum at what ever price.

@kanaga

data usage is generally calculated on GB basis. so it is very well correct. Rs 10/GB.

and ur assumption of these charges will be surely on high rental plan, Eg. monthly plan of Rs700 and above.

[sgiitk 32]

3) Lure the customers with triple-play services

--> Nothing can be as luring as having a set-top box working as WiFi modem and as micro tower for consumer's mobile's indoor coverage

--> Nothing can be as luring as having single bill covering your TV channels, mobiles and internet

The only down side is that when (it is not if) the cable is snapped you will lose all services.

[amitnsonu 72]

obviously Airtel BB has to restructured its plans after infotel launches its services, otherwise they will be finished.

[inception 75]

Tie up with RCom means:

1. Towers to install LTE base stations

2. Backbone network with optical fibre

3. International bandwidth via Flag Telecom

4. Can offer voice calls like other players

5. Multi mode dongles (2G,1x, HSPA, EVDO, LTE-TDD) to serve customers at any place of the country.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Current India Today issue has a cover story, "The Return of Brotherhood" on the Ambani Brothers.

Citing credible internal sources, it suggests that a tie up between MDA's Reliance and ADA's RCOMM is almost a given. It further suggests that RCOMM will spin off all cellular towers into a separate entity where blackstone may invest and then MDA's Reliance Infotel will lease space on it for 4G. With funds generated, ADA will knock off some of RCOMM debt.

Interesting Read.

[inception 75]

I think the deal of Rcom and RIL has already sealed, and as a 4G partner the towers of Rcom will draw more buy from potential takers like Blackstone.

I also do not see the fact that Rcom will sell all stakes in R-Infratel.

[city02 63]

rcom is ready to sell all of its tower biz but the asking price has been about a billion $ too high so they have no takers but some interested parties

the company's cash flows are being devoured by its massive interest payments

roughly 1/4 - 1/3 of the total flows and rising each year

every billion $ reduction in debt will boost its cash flow enough to add a few rs. to the stock price and thus mkt cap

[csmart 472]

RIL plans to offer 4G services on Rs 3500 tablets

Source: Economic Times

MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries plans to offer high speed data services on attractively priced tablets by 2012-end, which will coincide with the worldwide deployment of an advanced technology that it plans to use, two people familiar with the development told ET.

The company had earlier planned to launch services by mid next year on data cards that could be plugged into computers and laptops. The RIL services is based on fourth generation, or 4G, technology which offers faster internet access compared to third generation (3G) services. RIL plans to launch tablets at around Rs 3,500 and bundle it with data offering as low as 1 GB at Rs 10, a tenth of the current 3G prices.

RIL's entry and price disruption could therefore nullify the business case for 3G for existing mobile operators, all of whom on an average offer 1 GB of downloads for Rs 100 at present. Analysts also add that the immediate threat posed by RIL's entry will be to operators like Sistema Shyam and Tata Teleservices, the largest players in the dongle business, plug-in devices that provide wireless connectivity to the internet.

An industry expert who asked not to be named said: "Frankly I am quite surprised that none of these companies is treating RIL's launch as a threat at the moment. I would think it is time to start gearing up for it. I don't see any of them doing anything." RIL is the only company to have pan-India spectrum to offer wireless broadband services on the 4G technology platform having paid Rs 13,000 crore for these airwaves.

It will be launching services based on Qualcomm's long term evolution, or LTE, technology, which is currently in test phase. Global majors like Vodafone, Verizon and Telenor have deployed LTE networks in some developed markets. While subsidising devices will be main pillar of RIL's upcoming 4G mobile services offerings, the company is also analysing lessons from its previous foray into mobility. India's largest private sector company had launched mobile services in 2003, before the group was split between brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani. At the time, it offered mobile handsets at an initial payment of Rs 501.

In 2006, after Anil Ambani took charge of the telecom unit of the divided Reliance group, the operator struggled with unpaid bills and wrote of nearly Rs 4,500 crore primarily on account of the discount scheme. The RIL management is still working on structures that will avoid defaults of a similar nature, said one person. The company said its broadband offerings were still in the planning phase and no dates had been finalised.

"Infotel Broadband Services is currently in the process of actively evaluating various technologies that will form a part of its pan-India rollout. At this stage, we have neither finalised a date for launching the services, nor the various types of services and associated tariff plans that we would offer at launch," the company spokesman said in an e-mail statement. "It is our intention to make all of our offerings device agnostic, and our services will be supported by a wide variety of devices from multiple vendors.

We will, at appropriate times, make announcements about our plans," Reliance Industries spokesperson said. Currently the cheapest tablets in the market are between Rs 12,000 and Rs 13,000, including one of Reliance Communications at Rs 12,999, which it plans to bring down by 50% by late next year as volumes increase. Tablets and smartphones spur increases in data consumption and these services are billed at a premium giving some relief to operators hit by falling profit margins due to hyper competition in the voice calling space.

Last year, the industry had forked out Rs 51,000 crore to get 3G airwaves on which they could offer faster data services. A disadvantage that RIL is expected to contend with is the lack of penetration and inflexibility of LTE devices to use other technologies. Here too, history may repeat as in 2003, RIL picked Qualcomm's CDMA technology when all other operators used global system for mobile communications, or GSM.

While it was able to garner subscriber numbers, CDMA never became a premium service, and average revenue of Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices the only two CDMA operators at the time, have remained far lower than industry average, forcing them to launch GSM operations in 2008 to garner premium clients.

[inception 75]

RIL's entry and price disruption could therefore nullify the business case for 3G for existing mobile operators, all of whom on an average offer 1 GB of downloads for Rs. 100 at present. Analysts also add that the immediate threat posed by RIL's entry will be to operators like Sistema Shyam and Tata Teleservices, the largest players in the dongle business, plug-in devices that provide wireless connectivity to the internet.

An industry expert who asked not to be named said: "Frankly I am quite surprised that none of these companies is treating RIL's launch as a threat at the moment. I would think it is time to start gearing up for it. I don't see any of them doing anything." RIL is the only company to have pan-India spectrum to offer wireless broadband services on the 4G technology platform having paid Rs. 13,000 crore for these airwaves.

As RIL keeps all LTE plans under hood, they are also keeping secret of their internal development. Tata & MTS both upgraded their systems with Rev B to support upto 14.7Mbit/s network which is better than current HSPA offering.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Dhirubhai Ambani's Family Drama Ends With Dandiya As Mukesh, Anil, Nita and Tina Ambani Shake A Leg

Source

Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. -Leo Tolstoy

JUNAGADH: The Ambanis resembled every other happy family a day before patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani's 80th birth anniversary, as they congregated at his birthplace and appeared at ease, eating and praying together, and in a scene unimaginable not so long ago, even dancing with each other at the local temple.

After prayers at the local Chorwadi Bhawani temple, Mukesh and Anil joined their wives, mother Kokilaben, sister Nina, their children and other family members, all beaming and dressed up, to dance to the beats of Gujarati dance forms dandiya and sanedo.

The spirited dandiya between Nita Ambani and Tina Ambani, the general bonhomie, Anil's vigorous steps, Mukesh's characteristically shy but happy dandiya steps, the happy vibes between the generations, all seemed too true to be forced. The divided Ambani family doesn't appear so divided anymore.

The images of the estranged brothers talking to each other, their wives dancing and families mingling will reinforce perceptions that the two, prodded by their mother, have put a line under one of India's most high-profile sibling rivalries and set the stage for greater cooperation.

Anil Group's Shares Reflect Mood

Shares in some Anil Ambani group companies reflected that optimism, rising in a weak market. Flagship Reliance Communications ended 5% higher while Reliance Media Works closed 3% up. The stage for the tectonic shift in perceptions about India's first business family was set by matriarch Kokilaben's dramatic intervention on Monday with her declaration "There is love between the brothers... We are all united".

As markets and business pundits parsed her comments, the entire Ambani family reached Chorwad, a small coastal village 420 kilometres from Ahmedabad, and immersed itself in a series of mostly closeddoor family engagements. The family is here to celebrate Dhirubhai Ambani's birthday on Wednesday, and inaugurate a memorial built for him at the housing compound where he was born in 1932.

He built Reliance Industries into India's most valuable private company during his lifetime. The bonhomie that was on display on Tuesday night appears to have been the fruit of years of struggle by Kokilaben to keep her family together. Mukesh and Anil were consumed by a bitter and longstanding rivalry not so long ago, and were known for the extent to which the billionaires would go to avoid running into each other.

Their mother has been working hard behind the scenes to end the acrimony and bring the brothers closer. One of her initiatives has been to ask her sons to have lunch with her at home every Sunday. Kokilaben confirmed to ET on Monday that the brothers have been lunching with her for weeks now.

[chitshar 25]

Does this mean rcom+infotel broadband=1. If these 2 companies become one even cartels airtel+voda+idea will not be able to stand against it let alone any one company( LTE+GSM+CDMA spectrum and loads of money and political power).

[petar 15]

Karlo Duniya mutthi mein...

Plan Banao Chutti mein..!!!

[rajanmehta 4,056]

RIL Plans To Pick 26% Stake in Leading Cable Operators

Source

Talks under way for partnership model to provide last-mile connectivity to 4G users.

Reliance Industries (RIL) is planning to pick up a minimum 26 per cent stake in leading cable operators, including multi-system operators. The move is a part of the group’s strategy to rope in cable operators as well as multi-system operators (MSOs) as partners to provide last-mile connectivity to consumer homes for 4G broadband services, which would include data, voice and television.

According to two independent sources, RIL has approached Den Networks, Digicable Networks, Hathway Cable, the Hinduja–promoted IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (InCable) and several independent MSOs as well as smaller operators with good regional presence. There are more than 6,000 cable operators in the country.

The move comes shortly after RIL decided to invest in media group TV18's two main companies through rights issues. The deal would give RIL access to content for its 4G broadband internet venture.

RIL had last year bought 95 per cent stake in the Mahendra Nahata-promoted Infotel Broadband Services Ltd (IBSL), which won broadband wireless access or 4G spectrum across the country.

Elaborating on its strategy, an RIL spokesperson said Infotel was engaged in bringing affordable, cutting-edge wireless broadband and broadband-enabled digital services to customers across the country. To support this business model, Infotel is pursuing an economically prudent strategy of deploying a judicious mix of owned and partnered assets. In this context, the spokesperson said, Infotel had, and continued to be, engaged in discussions with potential partners where a partnered approach could create win-win opportunities for the company, its customers and partners.

RIL, however, did not want to comment on specific names, given the “strategic and confidential nature” of the discussions.

The MSOs and cable operators also declined to comment on talks with RIL. Sameer Manchanda, chairman and managing director of Den Networks, Ravi Mansukhani, managing director of Indusind Media, and K Jayaraman, CEO of Hathway Cable & Datacom, declined to comment on the issue.

With the government setting a deadline for digitisation by 2012 in metros and by 2014 across the country, cable operators and MSOs would require a massive investment of Rs 25,000 crore.

Den Networks plans to invest Rs 1,500 crore over three years and Hathway had said it would invest Rs 500-600 crore on cable digitisation in the first phase. According to analysts, most MSOs have chalked out huge fund-raising plans for digitisation, including stake sales.

According to a KPMG report on the media and entertainment industry, there were 103 million cable homes in 2010. Of those, 68 million were connected by analogue cables, while 28 million used DTH and five million switched to digital cable.

With RIL planning to roll out 4G services, tying up with MSOs will help them both in data and content options. That will help them in mass-scale adoption of their technology. In one go, most households will get internet and content on several devices from television to tablets. For RIL, this makes sense as MSOs have last-mile access to customers, says Farokh Balsara, leader of media and entertainment practice at Ernst & Young (Europe, India, Middle East and Africa).

RIL watchers say the company has put together an elaborate 4G broadband wireless access (BWA) roll-out plan that will offer consumers speeds 5-10 times better than 3G.

RIL has ambitious plans to connect over 100 cities and towns across the country through a fibre optic network (partly of its own and partly leased) in the initial stages. Cable operators and MSOs together have already laid 100,000 km of fibre reaching consumers’ houses across the country. That is what RIL wants to leverage.

The senior Ambani may have to tackle some regulatory issues of cross-holding under which cable, broadcasting and DTH companies cannot hold more than 20 per cent stake in each other. It was for this reason the Anil Ambani-promoted RCom, which operates in the DTH space through Reliance Digital TV, internet protocol TV (IPTV) and broadband services (all come under Reliance Digicom), was unable to acquire cable company Digicable. The government had earlier looked into the structure of Sun TV and the Zee group as both are present in an array of areas — cable distribution, DTH and broadcasting. But, they got clearance.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Reliance Unit Plans Voice Service

Wall Stree Journal. March 20, 2012

Reliance Industries Ltd. is working on a plan to launch telecommunications operations complete with voice and data services by September, four people aware of the matter said, in a development that has the potential to be a game-changer in India's telecom market.

Reliance's unit Infotel Broadband Services Ltd. has a license that allows it to provide broadband wireless Internet across India, but not voice service. However, a new policy--which is scheduled to be in place by June and seeks to unify all communication licenses--will likely allow it to provide voice service too.

Reliance initially didn't want to provide voice service as the telecom market is crowded and hyper competitive, but is now planning to add that to the offerings because of its findings that providing data and voice together will help attract more users than giving just Internet, one of the people said.

Voice services contribute more than 85% of Indian telecom operators' revenue, though Internet offers higher margins.

Reliance, the biggest Indian company by market value, is known to make its entries into new markets big, as it did with large-scale across-the-country retail business and telecom itself early in last decade. When the Ambani brothers split their business empire in 2005, the telecom business went to Anil Ambani and energy-focused Reliance Industries to Mukesh Ambani.

The energy-to-textiles group could disrupt telecom industry economics with new technology and lower tariffs if it launches voice and data services together. The sector is just about recovering from the effects of intense competition that has been hurting revenue and profitability.

Offering voice service on fourth-generation technology, which Reliance plans to employ, may however become a challenge due to the infancy of the technology and non-availability of affordable devices as yet.

The company expects to start offering commercial services in a few cities by September, three of the people said.

None of the four people wanted to be identified.

[me_saket 73]

it seems real that they start service in september

along with voice,

after quash of 122 license of 2g, it will be easy for RIL to start voice service too.

[inception 75]

When the new telecom policy will come, it will favor MVNO, in that way RIL can be a MVNO 2G operator on Rcom's network... and if call termination charge is withdrawn voice call rate will jump down to a new level... and for all these there will be only one gainer - RIL.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Telecom Panel Allows VOIP Under National Telecom Policy

Source

New Delhi: India’s Telecom Commission has approved allowing voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services under the National Telecom Policy (NTP), 2012, in a move that is aimed at making telecom services more affordable and which will also benefit companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) that have plans, licences and spectrum to offer wireless mobile broadband services.

An internal department of telecommunications (DoT) note reviewed by Mint says the commission, the country’s apex telecom policymaking body, has done this “to enhance affordability to consumers”.

The decision will come into effect next month.

An RIL spokesperson did not respond to phone calls, and email and text messages seeking comment on the development.

Media reports say RIL, the only company to have a pan-India licence to offer mobile broadband services, is preparing for launch and is in the process of picking devices and services (including telephony and content).

India is a latecomer to the VoIP revolution. Currently, Indian laws only allow VoIP calls to a telephone in India under strict conditions. However, they allow such calls between computers within the country’s borders and between a computer in India and a telephone (fixed or wireless) outside India.

On 6 March, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in its final recommendations on NTP, suggested that VoIP be fully allowed in the country.

“There is a convergence of technologies happening. The NTP also talks of separating the network providers from the service providers. In such a scenario, it makes sense for us to allow this,” said a senior DoT official, who did not want to be identified.

“Earlier there were many other issues and (it) did not make sense. Many of the operators and other stakeholders opposed it, saying that India was not ready for it. Now we feel the technology should be allowed,” added this person, explaining why India was far behind the rest of the world in the adoption of VoIP.

To offer voice calls between a computer and a phone within India, the service provider has to have a telecom licence or UASL (universal access service licence) and follow Trai’s mandated interconnection norms.

Once the new norms come into place, phone users, too, can use their handsets to call other phone users through the Internet, provided the handsets are compliant with the technology.

Analysts say the move will benefit customers.

“Doing this will allow more flexibility and new competition to emerge through non-facilities based providers,” said Kunal Bajaj, partner-director (India) at Analysys Mason (India) Ltd, a technology consulting firm. “It should hopefully also allow for a wholesale market to emerge, which does not really completely exist today. So this should be good for consumers, and for innovation.”

Analysts also add that the full adoption of VoIP will not affect tariffs. The prospect of tariffs going lower than the present 40-70 paise per minute is remote, they say.

They also foresee some challenges. Apart from policy, the biggest challenge is security. “Allowing VoIP means bringing the problems of the Internet to the mobile in full force,” said Hemant Joshi, a partner at consultancy Deloitte Haskins and Sells.

[me_saket 73]

so no barrier for RIL to launch voip.

and even good news for tikona, tulip or other broadband service provider

[vishalmcp 8]

yes its a very good move favouring RIL.... seems to be good for us if the tariffs go down...