The telecom venture of Mukesh-Ambani led Reliance Industries, Reliance Jio Infocomm will be launching its 4G LYF branded mobile phones by the end of November, this year.
Reliance Jio’s 4G Handsets Launch
Reliance Jio will introduce 3-4 phone models within this month. Most of the handsets being released will be priced between INR 8,000 and INR 14,000, ensuring affordability to most Indians.
Reliance Jio is planning a mega launch for the LYF 4G handsets. It will make more than 1 lakh mobile phones available on the first day itself. The handsets are manufactured by Chinese companies like CK Telecom, BYD, and ZTE, among others.
Industry experts predict that LYF will give stiff competition to major 4G brands in India, such as Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Micromax, among others.
The retail arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Retail, will be selling the handsets through its retail stores across the country.
The grand preparations indicate that the company will be rolling out is 4G services soon as well. It has already established its network in most of the regions of the country.
LTE Broadcasting Services
Along with the telecom services, Reliance Jio is gearing up to launch its Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Broadcast services. The company has rolled out its trials with the use of Expway’s LTE Broadcast middleware for TV and push Video-on-Demand (VOD). It will use the conventional LTE technology for fixed and mobile-voice and internet services.
Under the LTE technology, operators may broadcast a number of applications and services. Some of these include live High-Definition (HD) mobile and linear TV, pre-broadcast services of the viewer’s favorite online videos, magazines, news, and TV content, information on public transport, and distribution of content in college campuses, theme parks, hotels, and airports, among others. Operators may also distribute software services and updates, digital signage, and operate devices under the Internet of Things.
Apart from distribution, operators will be deploying services too. This includesreal-time traffic reports, advanced safety services, and parking space help for drivers and car passengers;statistics, multi-angle replay, merchandise offers for sports and music shows; and public safety alerts and push-to-talk under emergency services.
As per the report from Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), interest in LTE Broadcast will be increasing. The number of deployments will soon shoot up. In the next five years, the customer base may touch the mark of 20 lakhs, the reports suggested.
Alan Hadden, Vice-President (VP) of Research at GSA said that the availability of devices that will support LTE Broadcast services is improving. Many more devices will be added in few months. The organization said the early deployment suggests that LTE will grow on a large scale globally as well as in India.
Sunil Mittal’s Views on Reliance Jio
Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Mittal mentioned that the entry of Reliance Jio will enhance the consolidation in the telecom industry in India. He said, “I personally believe the launch of services of Reliance Jio as a big operator will spur consolidation in the telecom sector.
Summary
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited will launch its 4G LYF branded mobile handsets by the end of November 2015.