RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani (Photo: Reuters)
After disrupting the telecom sector with Reliance Jio, Reliance Jio is betting big on its optic fiber business. The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) may announce the commercial launch of wired broadband service JioFiber at its 41st annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow. RIL is likely to announce the price plans for its JioFiber broadband service, according to reports.
JioFiber, the wired broadband offering of Reliance Jio, has already been rolled out in select markets across the country. It currently offers fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband connections with 1.1TB (terabytes) of free data at a speed of 100 mbps.
The AGM of oil-to-telecom conglomerate will begin at 11:00 AM at Birla Matushri Sabhagar in Mumbai. For the past two years, the RIL's AGM has become a much-anticipated affair due to big announcements related to Reliance Jio. During last year's AGM, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced the launch of 'free of cost' JioPhone with a refundable Rs 1,500 security deposit.
In May, Livemint had reported that Reliance Industries (RIL) is likely to invest Rs 60,000 crore into its telecom unit this fiscal year to beef up its war chest as it plans to launch its broadband services. In 2016, Mukesh Ambani had said that investment in the telecom startup Jio would be around Rs 2,50,000 crore.
According to JioFiber, unlike in a regular broadband connection where the fiber reaches only till the building and the last few meters of end connectivity are connected using traditional cable which reduces the speed, JioFiber connectivity comes directly to your home.
Currently, Jio charges a security deposit of Rs 4500 for the ONT device (GigaHub Home Gateway). The deposit will be refunded if you choose to discontinue using the JioFiber services. Reliance Jio is offering its JioFibre service in select cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Chennai among others.