Reliance Jio 43rd AGM Major announcements: Google invests over 33000 crores, new products and path ahead

Reliance is hosting its 43rd AGM virtually. Here are some major announcements and product updates from the AGM.

1. Investment from Google and welcome to all other investors from the past 14 weeks

Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday announced that search engine giant Google will invest Rs 33,737 Crore in Jio Platforms for a 7.7 per cent stake in the telecom and digital arm of the company. The announcement was made at the 43rd annual general meeting (AGM), which is being held virtually.

"This is not just a financial but a strategic investment by the Internet giant. Thus, JPL has now four strategic partners - Facebook, Intel, Qualcomm and Google. It has also six most admired technology and financial investors and three sovereign funds, taking the total tally of investors to 14. Total funds raised is Rs 1,52,056 crore," Ambani said.

“Reliance Jio has sold 100 million Jio Phones to date. But there are many feature phone users waiting to upgrade to a conventional smartphone. We believe we can design an entry-level 4G or even a 5G smartphone. We believe that we can design such a phone at a fraction of the current cost. Google and Jio are partnering to build a value-engineered Android-based smartphone Operation System," said Ambani.

2. Ambani Announces Made-in-India 5G Solution

"Jio has designed and developed a 5G solution from scratch. This is a dedicate 5G solution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat", says Mukesh Ambani. io is ready with a world-class 5G solution. Field deployment can happen next year. This 5G product will be available for trials as soon as the spectrum is available. Jio Platforms will be positioned for 5G solution to other telecom operators.

These technologies will create compelling solutions that span multiple industry verticals and ecosystems. It will include media, financial services, new commerce, education, healthcare, agriculture, smart cities, smart manufacturing and smart mobility. "Once it is proven in India, Jio Platforms would be well-positioned to be an exporter of 5G solutions to other telecom operators globally, as a complete managed service," Ambani further added.

3. Digital Connectivity

"We have fully kickstarted five accelerators of growth of digital connectivity: Mobile broadband, JioFiber, Jio’s enterprise broadband, broadband for SMEs, and Jio’s Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NBIoT)," says Mukesh Ambani.

He further added, "Jio’s global-scale 4G and fiber network is powered by several core software technologies and components. It is this capability and know-how that positions Jio on the cutting edge of another exciting frontier – 5G."

4. JioTV Plus

It is a content aggregator that delivers TV channels, shows and movies and much more from various apps and services. Jio TV Plus feature aggregated content from over 12 leading global OTT players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Hotstar, Voot, SonyLiv, Zee5, JioCinema, JioSaavn, YouTube and many others. Jio TV+ will curate OTT platforms into one app. Besides this, it is also equipped with voice search.

5. Jio Glass

Reliance Jio also launched Jio’s latest innovation, Jio Glass. "The Jio Glass is at the cutting edge of technology that provides best-in-class Mixed Reality services to give users a truly meaningful immersive experience," said Kiran Thomas. "Jio Glass is making teachers and students come together in 3D virtual rooms and conduct holographic classes through our Jio Mixed Reality cloud in real-time. With JioGlass, the traditional way of learning Geography will now be History," he further added.

Jio unveils JioGlass – weighs only 75g, offers best in class, immersive mixed reality services. Remains connected by a single cable and already has 25 apps that allow augmented reality video meetings and more.

6. Jio Health Hub and Embibe

Isha Ambani talked in lengths about the Jio Health Hub and the EdTech platform Embibe. "Jio’s education platform, Embibe, will address the shortage of quality teachers in India. It is built on three foundational blocks: Unprecedented Personalisation, Incredible Content and Teacher Empowerment," she said.

Talking about the health care platform, she further said, "With Jio Health Platform we are integrating the overall healthcare ecosystem to enable people to book online consultations, securely store and share health records, book lab tests and avail various other healthcare services. She added the Reliance Foundation Hospital is using Jio Health Hub platform to provide virtual OPD services. It has also launched home quarantine services for COVID positive patients to enable them to access quality care from their homes.

Jio Health Hub will enable video doctor consultations, to offer a holistic healthcare technology platform that is fully made and designed in India.

7. Jio Mart

“JioMart is built upon two fundamental pillars. One, a powerful omnichannel tech-platform to unite customers, kiranas and producers. And second, a widespread physical network of Reliance Retail that takes benefits of new commerce to every corner,” says Isha Ambani.

She also added that its beta pilot programme in 200 cities had received positive feedback.

8. Jio Meet

Isha Ambani also said that Reliance is developing JioMeet as a highly specialised ed-tech platform, to set a new precedent in India's online education ecosystem. Further, she demonstrated collaborative digital education and highlighted teacher empowerment as a key aspect that JioMeet will enable.