Reliance Jio is gearing up for the commercial launch of its high-speed 4G services. A study conducted bythe Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) said that the company’s towers are safe and environment-friendly.
Reliance Jio Towers
The towers, installed by the MukeshAmbani-led company, look like high mast street light towers. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) granted the company approval to set up 220 towers with a height of 25 meters each.
The company had approached IIT-B for tests of stability, and civil and structural design. In April 2013, IIT-B gave the test results to the company. After this, Reliance Jio initiated theset-upof towers in Mumbai and later in Nagpur.
Professor at IIT-B, AbhayKarandikarstated in the recent report, “Reliance Jio has developed a very innovative in-house design for the ground-based mast (towers). The company does not propose to deploy any air conditioning as is the current requirement of traditional cell site installation.” It further stated that the towers consume little power, as compared to other traditional towers. Additionally, the towers do not require diesel, as they are backed up by effective batteries and electricity.
The towers were checked for their structural designs and it was found that they are safe from natural disasters like storms and earthquakes. Based on electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure, it was found that the towers are safe and the levels are much below the specified limit from the Department of Telecom and international bodies. Additionally, the towers are located far from residential and commercial buildings, enhancing safety.
The surface reflection from the antennas is minimal, as they are located far from the ground. The towers will occupy only 4 sq. meters on the ground, whereas traditional towers occupied 100 to 150 sq. meters. Moreover, no additional space is required for shelter.
These towers are suitable for installing Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs), info-screens, advertisement services, street lights, and weather, air quality and traffic monitoring systems.
Reliance Jio’s 4G Service
Reliance Jio made a soft launch of its service for employees, last month. It rolled out the service on the eve of its Founder,DhirubhaiAmbani’s 83
rd birth anniversary. The service is provided to 1 lakh employees of Reliance Industries and their families. The company may launch its commercial services in March-April 2016.
Reliance Jio will offer 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) services for both voice and data. It will make use of Voice over LTE technology. This will provide better call quality, voice over Wi-Fi, and will be helpful in reducing costs, and low battery usage.
Reliance Jio will also offer a messaging application, Jio Chat. The application will integrate voice, file sharing, chat, photo sharing, and video calling. It will also provide cloud services for music streaming, storage, and news.
Reliance Jio is distributing SIM cards to the employees. It has also partnered with mobile phones manufacturers like Intex and Huawei to launch 4G LYF smart phones. They will be sold at prices between the range of INR 4,000 and INR 32,000.
Summary
IIT-B stated in its report that the 4G towers erected by
Reliance Jio Infocomm are safe and environment-friendly as well.