Reliance Jio Could Push For 5G Internet in India With Own Devices

Jio plans to push its 5G service, which will be bundled with its own phones that will be assembled in the country.

Jio wants to push its 5G services in India before the competition does. 

(Photo: iStock)

After rolling out affordable 4G services in India, Reliance Jio is now setting up base for its 5G network to be launched in the country.

According to a report this week, the telco isn’t keen to wait for phone manufacturers to bring their own 5G devices. Instead, Jio plans on launching its own smartphones that will be bundled with its 5G connectivity.

The report from Financial Chronicle, quoting a source, says that Jio will be ready with its service by early 2020 and wants to get the network to consumers by end of 2020, with supporting hardware also on offer. Jio is looking to partner with vendors, who will help the telco with assembling 5G phones in the country itself, the report adds.

Unlike its competition, burdened with legacy 2G and 3G networks, Jio has claimed many times that its current 4G technology is ready to advance to 5G, whenever the country’s telecom climate is prepared to make the move.

This will also ensure other telcos like Airtel and Vodafone-Idea get their networks in place, especially if the auction of spectrum is done sometime in mid-2020. As informed by Aruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary “the government expects to complete processes for 5G spectrum auction by August and the services will be rolled out by 2020.”

Experts have pointed out the emergence of 5G offers a unique opportunity for India to lessen its reliance on Chinese companies. The next generation network will require large-scale investments in new telecom equipment and India can leverage this opportunity to become a disruptive force in the global telecom industry.

India does not need a 5G network at this juncture, is what Balesh Sharma, chief executive officer of Vodafone Idea Ltd., had said in a press meet in November 2018. “We will look to invest in 5G only when there is an appropriate ecosystem and improvement in financial health.”

Billionaire Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Airtel Ltd said in a 16 November analyst meet that the company doesn’t have the appetite to buy 5G spectrum and will evaluate it only when the ecosystem is supportive.

Keeping this in mind, it’ll be fascinating to see if Jio’s advanced entry with 5G service and devices will force both Airtel and Vodafone into changing their plans.