Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) ‘s Broadband launch has been highly awaited. While there is a high level of speculation regarding its aggressive participation in the 2G auction, sources say that it has already set the ball rolling for its 2013 Broadband launch. It has already come to the fore by employing people, engaging in talks with vendors for networks and devices and development of applications. It may also decide on its partner ecosystem during the 1st quarter of 2013. Reliance Infotel seems to be highly resolute about its services being the finest, when it rolls it out.
It has been eyeing on the Google Fiber Project that created a stir recently. Launched on 26th August in the Kansas City, it is an experimental project by Google to augment the internet speed by using fiber-optic communication. At present, it charges US $120 per month to provide them high speed internet and TV services. The project seems to enjoy success in its first week itself with more than 2000 homes opting for the service in Missouri and Kansas. This service 1 GBPS will endow consumers a speed that is 100 times faster than the speed rendered by normal internet subscriptions in the US. It will provide 1GBPS internet bandwidth, 2TB of DVR storage and 1TB of Google Drive. It will also give away a Nexus tablet as a freebie to its consumers. The service seems out of the ordinary with the incredible speed it offers. Besides, it also enables one to view television channels and avail instantaneous services on their tablets, which was not possible before. However, it does not entail to provision of voice service. A paradigm shift in internet services can be expected with Google Fiber setting in motion.
As always, RIL may endeavor to bring this state of the art technology to the country. It intends to devise a similar model and fine-tuning it in a way that it will appeal to the Indian masses. It may also want to add voice calling to this service once things are confirmed. Since India has still not switched to the fully data service mode, voice service is a necessity and can help RIL augment its services. The company also plans to introduce m2m (machine-to-machine applications), video conferencing solutions and home security solutions as a part of its service. However, it will lay high emphasis on the basic features like price, quality, and bundling to reach out to the masses in India.
Reliance Infotel will target Delhi and Mumbai initially and will later scale up its activities by moving to other state capitals and cities.