Telecommunications & Technology
Reliance Jio Infocomm has entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel under which the latter will provide a dedicated capacity to RIL’s telecom arm on its i2i submarine cable linking India and Singapore. This deal along with the infra-sharing deal with RCom announced earlier this month provides RIL with access to significant infrastructure, both at … Read more
Reliance Jio Infocomm a 95% subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd controlled by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Communications controlled by Anil Ambani have joined hands at the beginning of FY 2014. Anil is meeting Mukesh every fortnight to discuss co-operation in business. Ambani’s have manipulated Government policies to suit their needs and what are the chances that they may do it again ?
The following chart shows the Spectrum Spread of Reliance in GSM / CDMA / 3G and 4G LTE Bands
Last Week, Reliance Jio Infocomm [RJI] and Reliance communications announced Inter-City Optical Fiber sharing Deal. Reliance Jio Infocomm plans to launch a nationwide LTE network following its spectrum win in mid-2010.
Citigroup analysts Wrote,
If Reliance Jio Infocomm launches with a data-only dongle priced at ~Rs5,000 (US$91), it could target the high-end subscribers who currently contribute 5% of industry revenues (and hope to win only the data spend of these customers). The total addressable market for RIL Infotel is restricted to ~US$750 mn upon launch share) not big enough to build a business case considering the US$2.5 bn paid for spectrum by the company in 2010.
Addressable market with a data + voice handset strategy
However, by launching a handset [LTE Capable with CSFB] priced at Rs7,500 (US$136), the addressable market upon launch becomes the subscribers who account for 20% of industry revenues worth US$8 bn (and the company has a chance at capturing the entire spend of these customers, including voice). This compares with ~US$4 bn the company may have to spend on 2G and LTE spectrum
It is widely believed that Reliance Jio Infocomm will do to data what Reliance Infocomm did to voice a decade ago – democratise the product by taking the price points low enough to have mass appeal. The strategy we have outlined above is seemingly elitist, in that the focus is not on the bottom of the affordability ladder but on the top end.
Apart from the absence of a Robust Network combined with Mukesh Ambani’s ego problems to strike a Passive Infrastructure Sharing Deal with Reliance Communications, we believe that the key hindrance for Reliance Jio Infocomm to launch a truly mass-market strategy is the weak device ecosystem and hence high prices. In voice, the company tried to resolve the problem by offering upfront cash subsidy on device costs. However, we believe
Reliance Communications has acknowledged that it is in talks with Reliance Jio Infocomm to rent or lease towers from RCOM for the latter’s rollout of its 4G TD-LTE network. RCOM has a portfolio of around 55,000 towers with no external tenancy. It will be an impossible task for Reliance Jio Infocomm to rollout a Nationwide … Read more
Reliance Communications is set to benefit from the overall improving sector dynamics, as ARPMs, data volumes rise, competitive intensity reduces and capex under control. There is still a lot of time for spectrum renewal for Rcom, with only 7 circles coming up for renewal in Dec 2015, and others thereafter. Moreover, the excess spectrum charges … Read more
The newly Launched Samsung Galaxy S 4 will support Reliance Jio Infocomm 4G LTE as well as Airtel 4G LTE. Galaxy S4 carries a 5” FHD OLED screen at 441 ppi and weights 130g with 7.9 mm thickness. Its cameras have 13MP on the back with 2MP for front, and both AP and mDRAM are … Read more
Newspapers are buzz with 4G perceived as a game changer technology which will once again open the floodgates of competition. However, we believe the technological backbone for providing voice services on 4G network is still in nascent stage of evolution and should not pose any substantial threat in the near term (at least 18 months).
Currently, Reliance Jio Infocomm has a pan-India 4G LTE licence and Airtel has started 4G services in Kolkata, Pune and Bengaluru. We believe operators can launch 4G services via three options.
Roll out data services only
Reliance Jio Infocomm which is going to launch 4G LTE Services Shortly in Mumbai and Delhi has tied up with Samsung, Global Leader for Android SmartPhones. The TD-LTE 4G SmartPhones are expected to be Priced starting at $100. On its part Reliance Jio 4G Plans will be made available starting as low Rs 100 for … Read more