Mukesh Ambani pushes for 2G-free India; asks govt to take steps to make India truly digital

This isn’t the first time that Mukesh Ambani has talked about Reliance Jio has spoken about the need of making India 2G free.

RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani has again pushed for 2G free India as DoT and COAI celebrate 25th anniversary of mobility in India. In a letter to Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukesh Ambani wrote: “This is also an occasion for us to look at the obstacles that have prevented Indian consumers and Indian society from fully benefiting from the digital revolution. Here I specifically referred to the fact that India still has 300 million mobile subscribers trapped in the 2G era.” This isn’t the first time that Mukesh Ambani has spoken about the need of making India 2G free. Earlier, at RIL’s 43rd AGM, Mukesh Ambani announced that the company is focusing on 5G technology and will push for the adoption of affordable 5G smartphones as it envisions a ‘2G-mukt’ Bharat. Reliance Jio has also tied up with US-based tech giant Google to make affordable 4G phones.

Urging the government to take necessary steps, Mukesh Ambani said millions of mobile phone users are excluded from even basic internet services because of the constraints of a feature phone even while India and the rest of the world stand at the cusp of 5G telephony. He also said that there have been obstacles which prevent users from benefiting from the digital revolution.

“We are now rolling out our vision of Digital platforms and partnerships. This will provide the most advanced technological tools of empowerment to millions of our farmers, small merchants, consumers, small and medium enterprises, students, teachers, health care workers, and innovators,” Mukesh Ambani said in the video event. The digital platforms are also likely to create new employment and livelihood opportunities for India’s youth.

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio has reported nearly triple net profit on-year in the first quarter of the current financial year 2020-21. The telecom arm of RIL reported standalone EBITDA of Rs 6,201 crore and EBITDA margin of 41.8%.