RIL AGM 2019: Launch of Jio Gigafiber, Jio Phone 3, Triple play plan likely to be announced today

Ahead of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday, the launch of Jio Gigafiber, free landline services, Jio Phone 3, Triple play plan for GigaFiber can be announced.

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), to host its 42nd annual general meeting (AGM) on August 12, 2019 in Mumbai. The company is expected to launch Jio GigaFiber broadband services, new Jio Phone 3 model, Triple play plan for GigaFiber. It will be held at Birla Matushri Sabhagar in Mumbai and is likely to begin at 11:00 am.

“The company has already invested more than $250 million in the industry. We will now extend the service to 1,100 cities to offer the most advanced fiber-based broadband services. This will mean a faster internet experience. A virtual reality experience for all citizens where you can control switches in your house from outside as well. This will redefine 24×7 emergency help for all homes across India. We are calling this the JioGigaFibre,” Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani had said in the previous AGM.

It may be noted that since the last two AGMs, Reliance Jio has launched successive models of Jio Phone. This time, too, it is expected that the company might announce new Jio Phone 3 model. In less than three years, Reliance Jio has become the country’s biggest mobile operator. It has replaced Vodafone-Idea from the numero uno position and in April to June quarter of this year, has earned more revenue than Vodafone-Idea. Also, in terms of subscriber base, it is the second-largest telecom company.

Here are key things to watch out ahead of RIL AGM today-

1. Jio GigaFiber- It is not commercially available and only live on a preview basis in cities like Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Surat and Vadodra, etc. For now, Jio GigaFiber is only available in select areas of these cities where connections are for now being extended to users directly by the company. Under the introductory offer that is currently on offer, Jio GigaFiber is being offered to select users for free. However, under the preview offer, users are being given a 100 MBPS connection capped to a 100GB FUP limit. This 100GB cap can be extended by users through free of cost sachet recharges which add 40GB of data to users every day. In a recent earnings call, the company also hinted that GigaFiber’s smart home solutions would also be rolled out to “targeted 50 million households and beyond.”

2. Free landline services– It may be noted that Reliance Jio GigaFiber users are expected to receive free landline services with the commercial launch. It is reported that the company has already begun rolling out the free services to select users. As per the reports surfaced, in MyJio mobile app, some users have received notification regarding the availability of free landline service.

3. JioPhone 3– As per reports, the telecom giant is in the final legs of bringing a new Jio Phone which will be powered by a MediaTek chipset and is expected to hit the market in a month’s time. Reliance has already launched Jio Phones, which have access to apps like WhatsApp and YouTube. It may be noted that Jio Phone comes with a refundable deposit of Rs 1,500 while Jio Phone 2, the 4G capable model is priced at Rs 2,999.

4. Triple play plan for GigaFiber- According to the media reports, Reliance Jio GigaFiber “will offer a broadband-landline-TV combo service for Rs 600 a month”. However, there will be another plan, reportedly at a monthly cost of Rs 1,000 which could bring additional facilities and also the option to connect at least 40 IoT enabled devices to the Jio GigaHub. The report further added that the landline service will come with unlimited calling, while TV services will use Jio’s GigaFiber’s data plan over IPTV protocol.

One-way live webcast facility for AGM – RIL has planned to provide the one-way live webcast of all the proceedings of AGM 2019. Members who are entitled to participate in the RIL AGM 2019 can view the proceedings of the AGM, live, by accessing the website of Karvy: https://evoting.karvy.com and logging into the live streaming by using the same credentials, as used for remote e-voting.