Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani has launched JioGigaFiber, a wired broadband service, during the 41st annual general meeting (AGM) of the company on Thursday.

Currently available in selected cities, Jio GigaFiber will be launched across 1,100 cities of India simultaneously making it the largest fixed-line broadband fiber launch in the world.

"At Jio, we are determined to take India to be among the top-five in broadband connectivity, both for mobility as well as fiber-based wireline connectivity," said Ambani. "We have built future-proof networks and will continue to deliver the most advanced technologies to our customers for decades to come."

The setting up for JioGigaFiber will take only around an hour.

Currently, the company is running the beta trials for Jio GigaFiber, but those interested in procuring it can start registering through myjio and Jio.com from August 15.

The launch is seen as a direct attempt by the Reliance group to expand its market disruptive service to the broadband sector.

The scheme offers direct fiber connectivity all the way to the house, unlike traditional fiber networks that offer connectivity to the house via traditional cables leading to slow speeds.

At present, it offers connections with 1.1 terabyte free data at a speed of 100 mbps. This is provided for nothing but a refundable security deposit of Rs 4,500 for GigaHub Home Gateway service.

The move is seen as an attempt by the industry giant to further expand its operations across various sectors, particularly telecom.

The company had made this intention pretty clear in 2016 when Ambani said that investment in the telecom startup Jio would be around Rs 2,50,000 crore.

Also, various reports have indicated that the Reliance group would probably invest around Rs 60,000 crore this year alone into the telecom unit likely to support the launch of the broadband plan.

The company is planning to establish a future-proof network having pan India reach.

And with Jio entering the sector, it would be interesting how it will affect the broadband market in the country and how competitors will respond to it.

Disclaimer:

RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

First Published:Jul 5, 2018 9:53 AM IST