Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio is eyeing a slice of the wired broadband Internet space with its JioFiber services.
The company has started offering ultra high-speed fibre to the home (FTTH) broadband connections with 1.1 terabytes (TB) of free data at speeds of 100 megabits per second (mbps) in select markets in the country. The carrier is likely to roll out commercial services in the second half of this year.
“The initial FTTH plan includes 100 gigabytes (GB) of free data at 100 mbps speed; once the data limited is exhausted, the customers can do top-up of 40 GB of free data 25 times in a month, effectively meaning 1,100 GB of free data a month,” a source in the know of the development told The Hindu . The company is planning to unveil the service for both households and enterprise customers. In the residential segment, it is eyeing 100 million television households across 30 cities in India.
JioFiber aims to connect multiple devices through the dual band JioFiber Home Gateway. The customer also gets to choose Jio ‘extend’ options in order to receive WiFi coverage in every corner of house without the need for extra cabling.
“Customers can get JioFiber connection by paying an interest free refundable security deposit of ₹4,500. The company will install the Jio router, which can be also used as a set-top box when the company launches internet protocol television (IPTV) services. The idea is to give a host of services using one box,” said the source. When asked about roll out plans, Anshuman Thakur, head of strategy and planning, Reliance Jio said, “This year, our network will cover 99% of India, so we are ready to launch JioFiber soon. We have the largest optic fiber network in the country.”
3 lakh km of fibre
Reliance Jio has more than 3 lakh kilometres of optic fiber network across the country. The company is currently offering JioFiber in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Jamnagar, among others.
“The company is in the final stage of the commercial launch of home broadband services though the roll out is expected to be gradual,” UBS had said in its recent report after the company’s latest results announcement.
