Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries plans to offer high-speed data services on attractively priced tablets by early next year and scale it up to a countrywide network by the middle of 2012.
The company, which made a comeback to the telecom sector last year, plans to offer fourth-generation or 4G-enabled data cards that can be plugged into computers, apart from providing tablets at a game-changing price of Rs 3,000 or even lower to hook customers, two executives said. RIL has also initiated talks with media and entertainment firms, including Walt Disney's Indian venture UTV Software, to acquire content for its wireless broadband offerings.
A deal with Walt Disney, which is close to being finalised , will enable the company to offer games and applications for the younger customers. It plans to provide data connectivity with speeds of 50-100 mbps, which is much faster than 3G services currently on offer, at cheaper prices.
The strategy of enticing customers with low prices is similar to the strategy followed in 2003, when it took mobile telephony to the masses with its "Monsoon Hungama" handsets at Rs 501, helping it win 1 million customers in just 10 days. Reliance Infocom, the telecom arm of the undivided Reliance Group, began its services on December 28, 2002, the birthday of the group's founder Dhirubhai Ambani.
The company, now known as Reliance Communication is owned Anil Ambani, the younger brother of Mukesh. RIL has acquired Infotel, a company that won pan-India spectrum for broadband wireless access (BWA) last year and plans full-scale commercial operation by mid-2012.
By then, it expects to have its pan-India networks ready across 700 cities in the country, one of the executives said. Neither wanted to be identified. It will also gradually offer much higher speeds for data transfer on its network. The company has considered a soft launch as early as December, one source said.
Reliance hopes to boost investor confidence
Reliance is working overtime to make a success out of its latest venture, which it hopes will boost investor confidence that has been battered by harsh criticism from the CAG. The company's other initiatives such as retail continue to be small blips in its balance sheet while its gas production has declined because of reservoir complexity.
The company's spokesman declined comment on specifics of its broadband plans saying Reliance would not comment on speculation. But in an update on its telecoms business, Reliance said on Friday that it's telecoms unit was "in the process of setting up a world-class broadband wireless network using state-of-the-art technologies and finalising the arrangement with leading global technology players, service providers, infrastructure providers, application developers, device manufacturers and others to help usher the 4G revolution into India".
The company is learnt to be in the final phase of talks with three vendors - Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson and China's Huawei -- for its broadband gear after finishing trails with equipment provided by all vendors. It is not clear if RIL will go with a single vendor or split the contracts between the three, executives with gear makers aware of the ongoing talks said.
Several industry executives said that that RIL had examined prototypes of tablets from over 15 Taiwanese and Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) before shortlisting a slew of designs that will enable the company to offer devices across a wide spectrum of services at prices ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000.
RIL may focus on three to four models, all of which are likely to be priced between Rs 3000 to Rs 8000, an industry executive said while adding that the entry-level tablets may have Google's android operating system. Industry executives also confirmed that RIL was not considering UK-based Datawind, which recently launched the world's cheapest tablet - Aakash - priced at $35 or Rs 1,750 for students with the Indian government sourcing these device at Rs 2,256.
RIL is also in talks with multiple players for pan-India tower deals - it may go in for deals on a regional basis by tying up with the tower firm that has maximum reach and density in that particular zone, this executive added. RIL has already started internal testing of the service at its own offices.
The company will also have the opportunity to provide voice services. Last week, telecoms minister Kapil Sibal confirmed that the new policy would allow winners of last year's broadband auctions to offer voice services, a development that will significantly benefit RIL as it can become a full-fledged service provider.
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