Reliance Jio partners with Ciena to deliver high-bandwidth 4G services, support more users

Ciena's solution will provide Jio a high-speed and highly-resilient mesh network, operating at speeds up to 200 Gb/s, and allows unprecedented scale to support its surging subscriber base and subsequent data explosion.

Mukesh Ambani’s telecom business Reliance Jio has partnered with the US-based telecom networking solutions company Ciena to deploy packet-optical technology for its ambitious pan-India fourth-generation (4G) network rollout across telecom circles.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has deployed Ciena multi-terabit converged packet-optical technology to power its pan-India 4G network core and help unleash digital revolution in India,” the Maryland-headquartered company in a statement told ETTelecom.

Ciena's solution will provide Jio a high-speed and highly-resilient mesh network, operating at speeds up to 200 Gb/s, and allows unprecedented scale to support its surging subscriber base and subsequent data explosion.

The deal size however could not be ascertained but its is estimated to be close to Rs 100 crore.

In order to provide ultra-high bandwidth services across its entire network, Reliance Jio deployed Ciena’s 6500 and 5430 Packet-Optical Platforms, powered by WaveLogic coherent technology which will also support Jio’s upcoming subscriber additions.

The core network connects all major cities of India and is already carrying more than 80% of the total data traffic carried through Indian telecom networks.

Ciena also added that it provides higher uptime and unmatched customer experience compared to traditional network architectures.

“With Ciena we are not only able to provide robust scalability to offer new levels of data consumption, which is already 8 to 10 times above market levels, but also a supreme level of confidence in our network’s reliability and level of service that stands out in our marketplace,” Reliance Jio president Jyotindra Thacker in a statement said.

Jio’s growing 4G network, according to Thacker is backed by Ciena’s coherent technological offerings and control plane technology.

The telecom arm of oil-to-logistics conglomerate Reliance Industries has forayed into commercial telecom services under the brand name Jio on September 5, 2016 with all IP-based network.

The Mumbai-based telco has added more than 100 million subscribers in just 170 days.

“In fast-growing markets like India, there’s a pent-up demand for more bandwidth not only for personal use, but also to sustain business growth and development. Jio understands the necessity in today’s digital environment to provide high-bandwidth services anytime, anywhere, “ Steve Alexander, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Ciena said.

Read More»

Reliance Jio’s another freebie: This offer will remain free even after Happy New Year offer ends on March 31

Reliance Jio has already announced the offers and tariff plans for its network service, which will be applicable from April 1, this year. Meanwhile, there is one offer which it has still kept free. 

Reliance Jio will also continue its free caller tune offer for its subscribers. The offer was free during the Happy New Year scheme, and will still be so after it ends on March 31.

Reliance Jio has already announced the offers and tariff plans for its network service, which will be applicable from April 1, this year. Meanwhile, there is one offer which it has still kept free. While Jio offered its calling and data services for free earlier, both the ‘Welcome Offer’ and ‘Happy New Year’ have now ended. This means, now consumers of Jio network will have to pay for the data services in order to avail the offers. However, the calling will remain free forever, according to Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio’s Happy New Year offer will end on March 31, and along with it, the freebies will end too. To soften the blow, Reliance Jio had rolled out its Jio Prime membership plan from March 1. But apart from all these, Reliance Jio will also continue its free caller tune offer for its subscribers. The offer was free during the Happy New Year scheme, and will still be so after it ends on March 31. This offer will be valid for a month after activation.

Meanwhile, after March 31, users will not get everything for free. In order to continue using the previous ‘Happy New Year’ offer, Jio users will have to pay a subscription fee of Rs 99. Additionally, they will have to shell out Rs 303 every month to continue accessing Jio’s 4G services and also the full bouquet of Jio’s media services for one year. Similar to the previous ‘Happy New Year’ offer, the Prime membership too will provide users with a FUP limit of 1GB data for each day. a consumer who still does not have a Jio connection can get on the network on or before March 31 in order to avail the Prime membership offer.

In order to activate the caller tune, you need to follow the following steps:
1. Users will be needed to download the Jio4GVoice application from Google PlayStore
2. After opening the app go to the messaging option.
3. You need to type ‘JT‘ and send it to the number 56789 using your Jio SIM.
You will receive a message from the company, where you will be able to select from many genres and categories of caller tunes.
5. Once you select an option, you will get details and songs related to it. Select a song among them and click on the corresponding number.
6. Once you receive the confirmation message, click on the number ‘1‘.
7. You will receive a Start Caller Tune message. Click ‘Y‘ and send.
8. You will receive a text about the free caller tune option for 30 days. You can also stop the service by ‘STOP‘ and send it to 56789.

 

Read More»

Reliance Jio's offensive to continue, eyes no. 2 slot

The company has ramped up 100 million subscribers in under six months of its launch and officials say the next target is to "challenge Airtel for numbers and reach the second position".

Reliance Jio is expected to maintain its aggressive posturing in the telecom market even as the company offers paid services from next month, what is seen as its first big challenge considering this will be the first time it will start billing customers.

The company has ramped up 100 million subscribers in under six months of its launch and officials say the next target is to "challenge Airtel for numbers and reach the second position".

"There is no way Jio is going to give up on its ramp-up, and it is going to stay aggressive in the coming quarters as well," a top official said, requesting anonymity. After the disruption that the company caused in mobile tariffs, it is set to open the battle on another frontier - home broadband and cable business as well as low-priced devices.

"Jio will launch highly-subsidised mobile devices - for as low as Rs 1,500 or so - that will support data and its 4G business. This way, it will capture all new 4G subscribers," a top industry official aware of the plans, said.

Read More»

Decision to merge with Idea has nothing to do with Reliance Jio, says Vodafone’s Calao

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, and Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Plc, spoke to reporters about how the merger between Idea Cellular Ltd and Vodafone India Ltd makes business sense. Edited excerpts:

How do you sell this transaction to shareholders?
Birla: ...we believe that this is based on business fundamentals. So we got complementarity in assets in different markets. Vodafone is much more dominant in metros while Idea is quite strong in many rural markets. We would together have market share of about 40%. So I think it is the business logic that has fundamentally driven this combination and I believe that for us and for all other shareholders this is something that creates immense value.

There is a sense that the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has been one of the key factors driving the deal. Is that true?
Colao : You all talk about Jio. But the market leader is someone else and therefore it is not just about Jio. This is a very competitive market. We continue to be competitive. Now we are more sustainable because we are coming together and will be among the top two telecom companies in all Indian circles, except Jammu and Kashmir. We don’t have a single circle where we have below 10% market share, which means that you can make money in each circle and reinvest that in other circles. Our decision to merge has nothing to do with Jio. We have always said that India has been wonderful for Vodafone from a market point of view, from a customer point of view. I have been in conversation with Mr Birla for many years and at some point we decided to come together. More than Jio, I think it’s the arrival of data which is the key reason. Data as you know is very capital-intensive and requires a lot of spectrum

When you first entered the country, India was described as the jewel in the crown for Vodafone Plc. Has it changed now?
Colao: India has been wonderful for Vodafone from a market, customer and brand point of view. But from a regulatory point of view, the price of spectrum has been very high. Hopefully the move creates better synergy.

Can this merger bring an end to the tariff war that the industry has been witnessing?
Birla: I don’t see any connect between the merger and the tariffs. We will still have five players in the market. We still remain a very intensely competitive market like in most parts of the world.

Going forward, do you see the regulatory environment as a major challenge?
Colao: I don’t think of regulators as a challenge; rather, regulation will help the industry develop. But with us coming together the regulators have the real chance to prove that they are neutral.

We have heard that Vodafone is in talks to sell the excess stake and has reached out to a few potential buyers (according to the terms of the merger agreement, Vodafone has to bring its stake in the combined entity on a par with that of the Idea promoters, the Aditya Birla Group, by selling shares to it or to third parties)...
Colao : As I said, the merger has been on equal terms and at some point in time the shareholding of Vodafone will meet Idea’s stake. But there no conversations about Vodafone selling its stake to anyone right now.

Read More»

Reliance Jio sends legal notice to Ookla, seeks withdrawal of Airtel’s fastest network advertisements

Jio's lawyers Khaitan & Co in a legal notice, said that Ookla has falsely certified Bharti Airtel to be the "India's Fastest Mobile Carrier with full knowledge of that your test "results" are fundamentally flawed and unreliable.

Reliance Jio approached the advertising watchdog ASCI on Monday, seeking a withdrawal of Bharti Airtel’s advertisements, terming them as false, misleading and incorrect, a move which is set to intensify the war between both the telcos.

Bharti Airtel’s latest advertisements claim that the telco is the fastest telecom network in India as rated by Ookla - the broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications. The company Monday denied any wrong doing.

“The claim of Airtel is not true, and is misleading, and has been made with the knowledge that the methodology adopted for to determine the mobile internet speed was completely flawed (this has been accepted by Ookla, LLC in correspondence with us),” Reliance Jio said in its letter to Advertising Standards Council of India dated march 20, 2017.

“Airtel is the dominant telecom operator in India in existence for the last 22 years. Airtel cannot claim ignorance of the methodology used by Ookla for determination of the speed,” it added.

Jio said that Airtel has been guilty of making attempts in the past to use such titles and proclamations, and it was forced to back-track and withdraw such advertisements after complaints from the general public and upon intervention by the Advertising Standards Council of India.

“It is clear that Airtel is in violation of the Advertising Standards Council of India Code, including provisions of "Section A. Chapter-I- Truthful & Honest Representation,” it added.

Defending the advertisements, a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said that Ookla’s findings are based on analysis of millions of internet speed tests logged on ‘modern devices’ by mobile customers across India using its popular Speedtest app. “The results include all mobile tests, regardless of connection technology.”

The Mukesh Ambani-led new entrant alleged that Ookla, LLC, is a commercial enterprise who gives awards for money, and it doesn't have any accreditation from the government of India. It added that the word appearing in the advertisement "officially” when used in the context of telecom services is linked to only the telecom regulator, TRAI, and the telecom department in the minds of general public.

"The use of this word deceives the telecom consumer into believing that the certification is from the telecom regulator namely TRAI or the licensor namely DoT. Airtel, as a dominant player in the Indian telecom market for the last 22 years, cannot plead ignorance to the implication of an undue advantage it will gain by use of such word. Thus, Airtel has wilfully, deliberately and knowingly misled the Indian public," it said.

Reliance Jio also informed the ASCI that it has sent a legal notice to Ookla, LLC, who according to the telco professes to be experts in the domain space of testing mobile internet speed.

Jio's lawyers Khaitan & Co in a legal notice, said that Ookla has falsely certified Bharti Airtel to be the "India's Fastest Mobile Carrier with full knowledge of that your test "results" are fundamentally flawed and unreliable.

It alleged that Ookla abused its dominance in this domain in an unethical manner by “concealing true facts, and have purported to provide an unfair advantage to Bharti Airtel and further their business interests for your commercial gains.”

The notice read that Ookla's acts were not only reckless, but are also malicious and mala fide intended to bring into disrepute Jio and its network. It further read that these acts are also intended at causing monetary losses and irreparable damage to Jio by lowering the perception of the quality of Jio's services in the minds of the general public, giving an undue and unfair advantage to the competitor.

“This exercise by which Ookla purports to provide speed "test results" to telecom service providers for internal use for a consideration, and, charges a premium in the range of 2X to 4X —depending on the options availed if such entities wish to promote their business using such "results", shows that Ookla's so-called awards/certificates and brand, is a scam in collusion with a service provider,” the notice read.

Ookla couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

Read More»

Vodafone-Idea merger: Can the two telecom giants take on Reliance Jio?

After a couple of months long executive level discussions, the global giant Vodafone and Aditya Birla group controlled Idea Cellular --- the second and third largest mobile network operators in India with around 200 million subscribers each--- decided to merge their telecom operations in the country to take on Reliance's Jio. There are many takeaways from the deal, especially when the Indian telecom industry is going through tremendous disruption.

According to Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao, the play in the Indian telecom industry has become data-driven, taking the voice a back seat. He prefers to focus on the next technology like 5G, sailing through the 4G wave unhurt.

Jio has started afresh with new technology and its supportive infrastructure while incumbents have the legacy issues. In addition, Reliance is all out to flush money to capture the market--- their subscriber base rose 100 million in 170 days of Jio's launch. The launch offer of free service is going to end by March-end. But Reliance has launched Rs 10 a day service for its premium customers to retain subscribers for the next one year. This indicates that the Jio customers will get ample data and free voice at Rs 300 a month. Can the incumbents crack into the tariff war?

The Idea-Vodafone merger will bring in synergy of operations and help boosting the market share. But how can they play out in the price war? If they couldn't bring mass appealing tariff plans, the joint entity's value will shrink with the exodus of customers.

Capital infusion is another risky area for the incumbents in today's time. The lead players--- both the merged entity and Airtel--- will have to pump in huge capital for upgrading their infrastructure. Reliance has the advantage of cash flow from its oil business. Since both oil and Jio comes under one entity, they could use the cash flow across the different businesses. Jio has already committed another Rs 1 lakh crore investment in the couple of years.

Vodafone's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) for the last financial year stood at Rs 13,115 crore while Idea reported an EBIDTA of Rs 11,909 crore. Reliance had an EBIDTA of Rs 52,503 crore in the same period. The question is going to be who can stay on investing without bleeding.

For the success of the merged entity, Vodafone will have to play with its technological expertise and use its experience in other parts of the world. They should have an India focused growth plan. Once its back in track, the capital will not be an issue, considering the it's partnership with Aditya Birla group. 

Read More»

Reliance Jio effect: Telcos poor financial health leading to mergers, says COAI

Meanwhile, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, Vittorio Colao said that the the UK-based telco was looking forward to working with the Aditya Birla Group to create value for all stakeholders.

GSM group Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Monday said that telcos financial distress was a major trigger for mergers, acquisition and consolidation of companies such as Idea Cellular and Vodafone, Aircel and Reliance Communications.

The reaction comes on the backdrop of Idea Cellular’s Board approval on Monday to merge its operations with UK-based Vodafone with an aim to create a largest telecom entity.

“Due to the poor financial health of the sector, we are witnessing mergers, acquisition and consolidation of companies like Idea and Vodafone, Aircel with RCom and MTS. Other companies like Videocon and Etisalat have already left the industry because of this hyper competitive pressure,” Rajan S Mathews, Director General of COAI in a statement said.

Vodafone will own 45.1% in the combined entity after transferring 4.9% to the promoters of Idea Cellular for Rs 3,874 crore in cash after the merger. Promoters of Idea Group such as Kumar Mangalam Birla will hold 26% and the rest will be owned by the public, according to the two telcos.

The development came after the commercial foray of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm in September 2016 that has eventually led to a steep tariff cuts by rival operators.

“There is currently a tariff war in the market, which may not be sustainable for long. This has also severely impacted the revenue stream of operators, not just in terms of an increase in cost but also in terms of a marked decline in the revenue stream,” Mathews said.

COAI also said that the tariff war has led the financial condition of industry at risk and increased the debt to Rs 4.3 lakh crore, which is eventually leading to a severe decline in government revenues from the sector.

The GSM group represents Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone India, Aircel and new entrant Reliance Jio.

Mathews feels that there has been a continuous increase in expenditure due to high costs of spectrum acquisition and high and multiple levies and taxes.

“We have seen some significant consolidations in the past and this announcement is a welcome and positive step in the direction of telcos coming together and creating resilient networks with a large asset base for an enhanced consumer experience,” COAI aded.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, Vittorio Colao said that the the UK-based telco was looking forward to working with the Aditya Birla Group to create value for all stakeholders.

On Monday, Anil Ambani-driven dual technology player Reliance Communications (RCom) has also received an approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to combine its cellular business with Aircel.

The RCom-Aircel-MTS entity is expected to have an asset base of over Rs 65,000 crore ($9.7 billion) and net worth of Rs. 35,000 crore ($5.2 billion).

Read More»