Reliance Jio will launch its over-the-air 5G broadband service Jio AirFiber on Ganesh Chaturthi which falls on September 19, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.
The commercial launch of Jio AirFiber, its fixed wireless access (FWA) offering, was one of the key announcements expected from Ambani ahead of the annual shareholders meeting.
“Today, I’m delighted to announce that JioAirFiber will launch on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on 19th September, giving us another avenue for customer value and revenue growth in the untapped Indian home segment,’’ Ambani said on Monday.
Pointing out that JioAirFiber will enable the company to connect with a much larger number of people compared with optical fibre, the RIL chief said the platform will use its pan-India 5G network and advanced wireless technologies to bypass the need for last-mile fibre.
“Through optical fibre, we can currently connect around 15,000 premises daily. But
with JioAirFiber, we can supercharge this expansion with up to 150,000 connections per day which is a 10-fold increase, expanding our addressable market over the next three years to over 200 million high-paying homes and premises,’’ he said.
The RIL chairman said providing last-mile connectivity is a challenging process in most parts of the country, leaving millions without home broadband because of the complexities and delays involved in extending optical fibre to premises.
He said JioAirFiber will address the gap.
Ambani did not give details on where this facility would be launched. Market circles said it is likely to be introduced in a phased manner.
In a presentation to RIL shareholders, Akash Ambani, chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, said JioAirFiber is an aspirational service that will become an integral part of every Indian household.
He claimed that through a combination of JioFiber — the optical fibre-based home broadband service — and JioAirFiber, Jio’s turnaround time to fulfil a customer order will be among the fastest in the world.
“You can share your home address through the jio.com website or the MyJio app from the comfort of your homes. From that point, we step in as your trusted partner – delivering not only broadband to your doorstep but also guaranteeing uninterrupted Wi-Fi throughout your home.
“And we won’t stop there. We will also guide you step-by-step to transform your home into a Jio Smart Home,’’ he added.