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Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited,
doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
Jio, is an Indian
telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
company and a subsidiary of
Jio Platforms Jio Platforms is an Indian multinational technology company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Established in 2019, it acts as a holding company for India's largest mobile network operator Jio and other di ...
, headquartered in
Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city is ...
, India. It operates a national LTE network with coverage across all 22
telecom circle In India, mobile numbers (including pagers) on GSM, WCDMA, and LTE networks start with either 9, 8, 7 or 6. Each telecom circle is allowed to have multiple private operators; earlier it was two private + BSNL/MTNL, subsequently it changed to three p ...
s. Currently, Jio offers 4G and 4G+ services all over India and 5G service in selected cities. Its 6G services are in the works. Jio soft launched on 27 December 2015 with a beta for partners and employees, and became publicly available on 5 September 2016. It is the largest mobile network operator in India and the third largest mobile network operator in the world with over 42.62
crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
(426.2 million) subscribers. In September 2019, Jio launched a
fiber to the home Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber opt ...
service, offering home broadband, television, and telephone services. ,
Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is ...
has raised by selling nearly 33% equity stake in Jio Platforms.


History

The company was registered in
Ambawadi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Ambawadi is an area located in Ahmedabad, India. The major landmarks of the area are the Ahmedabad Central Mall, the Ambawadi ''shaak bazaar'' (vegetable market), and the Parimal Garden. Education * Sheth C.N.School * I.I.M. Hospitals * Doctor ...
on 15 February 2007 as Infotel Broadband Services Limited (IBSL). In June 2010,
Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is ...
(RIL) bought a 95% stake in IBSL for . Although unlisted, IBSL was the only company that won broadband spectrum in all 22 circles in India in the 4G auction that took place earlier that year. Later continuing as RIL's telecom subsidiary, Infotel Broadband Services Limited was renamed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) in January 2013. In June 2015, Jio announced that it would start its operations throughout the country by the end of 2015. However, four months later in October, the company postponed the launch to the first quarter of the financial year 2016–2017. Later, in July 2015, a
PIL Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...
filed in the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
by an NGO called the
Centre for Public Interest Litigation The Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) is an Indian non-governmental organisation that conducts litigation on matters of public interest. The CPIL was established by late Justice V. M. Tarkunde, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Ind ...
, through
Prashant Bhushan Prashant or Prasant is a common male name in South Asia. It is derived from the word "shanth" which means patience, calm, quiet, or tranquil. People with the given name * Prashant Bose - Indian politician * Prashant Bhushan - Indian lawyer, ac ...
, challenged the grant of a pan-India license to Jio by the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
. The PIL also alleged that the firm was being allowed to provide voice telephony along with its 4G data service, by paying an additional fee of just which was arbitrary and unreasonable, and contributed to a loss of to the exchequer. The Indian
Department of Telecommunications The Department of Telecommunications, abbreviated to DoT, is a Ministry (government department), department of the Ministry of Communications (India), Ministry of Communications of the executive branch of the Government of India. History Telecom ...
(DoT), however, explained that the rules for 3G and BWA spectrum didn't restrict BWA winners from providing voice telephony. As a result, the PIL was revoked, and the accusations were dismissed. The 4G services were launched internally on 27 December 2015. The company commercially launched its 4G services on 5 September 2016, offering free data and voice services until 31 December, which was later extended until 31 March 2017. Within the first month, Jio announced that it had acquired 1.6 crore (16 million) subscribers and has crossed 5 crore (50 million) subscriber mark in 83 days since its launch, subsequently crossing 100 million subscribers on 22 February 2017. , it had about 13 crore (130 million) subscribers. On 5 October 2022, it has launched 5G services to
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.


Network


Spectrum frequency holding summary

Jio owns spectrum in 850 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands in India's 22
circles A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...
, and also owns pan-India licensed 2,300 MHz spectrum. The spectrum is valid until 2035. Jio also picked up pan-India licenses in the 700 MHz, 3,500 MHz and 26 GHz spectrum bands in the DoT's 2022 5G auction.


Partnerships

Jio shares spectrum with
Reliance Communications Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) was an Indian mobile network provider headquartered in Navi Mumbai that offered voice and 2G and 3G and 4G data services. In February 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy as it was unable to sell asse ...
. The sharing deal is for 800 MHz band across seven circles other than the 10 circles for which Jio already owns. Sep 2014 – Acquired undisclosed stake in
Airspan Networks Airspan Networks is an American telecommunications company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company develops Radio Access Network technology including the Sprint 'Magic Box' and cells (both small and macro) for the Rakuten virtualized n ...
for US$5 mn. Deploys Airspan's small cells throughout the network roll out phase. Sep 2016 – Jio signed a pact with BSNL for intra-circle roaming which would enable users of the operators to use each other's 4G and 2G spectrum in
national roaming Roaming is a wireless telecommunication term typically used with mobile devices, such as mobile phones. It refers to a mobile phone being used outside the range of its native network and connecting to another available cell network. Technical ...
mode. Feb 2017 – Jio announced a partnership with
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
to work on LTE – Advanced Pro and 5G. Feb 2017 – Partnered with
Ciena Ciena Corporation is an American telecommunications networking equipment and software services supplier based in Hanover, Maryland. The company has been described by ''The Baltimore Sun'' as the "world's biggest player in optical connectivity." T ...
to deploy transport SDN architecture. Reliance Jio also partnered with several OSS (
Operations Support Systems Operations support systems (OSS), operational support systems in British usage, or Operation System (OpS) in NTT, are computer systems used by telecommunications service providers to manage their networks (e.g., telephone networks). They support ...
) & BSS (
Business Support System Business support systems (BSS) are the components that a telecommunications service provider (or telco) uses to run its business operations towards customers. Together with operations support systems (OSS), they are used to support various end-to- ...
) companies for the deployment of services, like:
SAP Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...
, HP, IBM,
Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
,
Rancore Rancore (born Tarek Iurcich on 19 July 1989) is an Italian rapper proficient in freestyle. The rapper's father is from Croatia and his mother from Egypt. Career Iurcich was born in Rome in 1989 to a Croatian father and an Egyptian mother; began ...
, Estel Technologies,
Subex Subex Limited is an Indian enterprise software company based in Bangalore, which provides digital trust products to communication service providers. The company is listed on BSE and NSE in India. History Subex was founded in 1992 by Subash M ...
and Intec Telecom Systems. However, the finalized OSS firms were Ericsson, HP and Friendly Technologies. Sep 2020 – Partners with
Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
for 5G deployment. Sep 2020 – Announces partnership with HFCL to deploy
Fiber-optic communication Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is pref ...
to support the rollout of
FTTx Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
services. Oct 2022 - Contracts with
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
&
Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
for supplying standalone 5G network equipment.


Summit Digitel Infrastructure

Summit Digitel Infrastructure (formerly known as Reliance Jio Infratel Private Limited) operates 136,000 telecom sites. This division has been divested to Tower Infrastructure Trust, which is owned by
Brookfield Asset Management Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies, with over US$725 billion of assets under management in 2022. It focuses on direct contr ...
, for a consideration of .


Products and services


Mobile broadband

The company launched its 4G broadband services throughout India in September 2016. It was slated to release in December 2015 after some reports said that the company was waiting to receive final permits from the government. Jio offers fourth-generation (4G) data and voice services, along with peripheral services like instant messaging and streaming movies and music.


JioFiber

In August 2018, Jio began to test a new
triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...
fiber to the home Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber opt ...
service known tentatively as Jio GigaFiber, including
broadband internet In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...
with speeds ranging from 100 to 1000 Mbit/s, as well as television and landline telephone services. In August 2019, it was announced that the service would officially launch on 5 September 2019 as JioFiber, in honour of the company's third anniversary. Jio also announced plans to offer streaming of films still in theatres ("First Day First Show") to eligible JioFiber subscribers. In the year 2015, the company has a network of more than of fiber optic cables in the country, over which it will be partnering with local cable operators to get broader connectivity for its broadband services.


JioBusiness

In March 2021, the company has launched connectivity solutions for businesses bundled with services provided by
Jio Platforms Jio Platforms is an Indian multinational technology company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Established in 2019, it acts as a holding company for India's largest mobile network operator Jio and other di ...
,
Reliance Retail Reliance Retail is an Indian retail company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Founded in 2006, it is the largest retailer in India in terms of revenue. Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel, footwear, toys, home improvement ...
and
Office 365 Microsoft 365 is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and cloud-based services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, programs formerly marketed under the name Mic ...
.


Jio Branded Devices


LYF smartphones

In June 2015, Jio entered into an agreement with domestic handset maker Intex to supply 4G handsets capable of voice over LTE (VoLTE). However, in October 2015, Jio announced that it would be launching its own mobile handset brand named
LYF LYF (pronounced "life"), also known as Jio LYF, is an Indian brand of smartphones, laptops, consumer electronics developed by Jio and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It manufactures 4G-enabled VoLTE smartphones which run on An ...
. On 25 January 2016, the company launched its LYF smartphone series starting with Water 1, through its chain of electronic retail outlets,
Reliance Retail Reliance Retail is an Indian retail company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Founded in 2006, it is the largest retailer in India in terms of revenue. Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel, footwear, toys, home improvement ...
. Three more handset models have been released so far, namely Water 2, Earth 1, and Flame 1. JioPhone is a line of
feature phone A feature phone (also spelled featurephone) is a type or class of mobile phone that retains the form factor of earlier generations of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. They tend to use an ...
s marketed by Jio. The first model, released in August 2017 (with public pre-orders beginning 24 August 2017), was positioned as an "affordable" LTE-compatible feature phone. It runs on the
KaiOS KaiOS is a mobile Linux distribution for keypad feature phones based on the Firefox OS open-source project. It is developed by KaiOS Technologies (Hong Kong) Limited; a company based in Hong Kong, whose largest shareholder is Chinese multinati ...
platform (derived from the defunct
Firefox OS Firefox OS (project name: ''Boot to Gecko'', also known as ''B2G'') is a discontinued open-source operating system made for smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs, and dongles designed by Mozilla and external contributors. It is based on th ...
), and includes a 2.4-inch display, a dual-core processor, 4 GB of internal storage,
near-field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...
support, a suite of Jio-branded apps (including the
voice assistant An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) or intelligent personal assistant (IPA) is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual based on commands or questions. The term "chatbot" is sometimes used to refer to virtual ...
HelloJio), and a Jio-branded
application store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
. It also supports a "TV cable" accessory for output to an external display. In July 2018, the company unveiled the JioPhone 2, an updated model in a keyboard bar form factor with a QWERTY keyboard and horizontal display. Jio also announced that
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
,
WhatsApp WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...
, and
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
apps would become available for the two phones.


Jionet Wi-Fi

Prior to its pan-India launch of 4G data and telephony services, the firm has started providing free
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
hotspot services in cities throughout India including
Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...
,
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
in
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, and
Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...
in
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
,
Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...
,
Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...
,
Dewas Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pua ...
and
Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...
in
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
, select locations of
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
in
Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
,
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
in
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
in
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
,
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
in
Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
,
Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...
in
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, Collectorate's Office in
Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
, and at MG Road in
Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...
among others. In March 2016, Jio started providing free
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
internet to spectators at six cricket stadiums hosting the
2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...
matches. .


JioPhone Next

On 24 June 2021,
Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), a Fortune Global 500 company and India's most valuable company by market value. Acco ...
announced the launch of JioPhone Next. It is a fully-featured Android smartphone co-developed with
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
as part of its long-term partnership. The budget smartphone was launched in India on 4 November 2021. The Jio Phone Next will be run by the indigenously built Pragati OS based on
Android Go Android Go, officially Android (Go Edition), is a stripped-down version of the Android operating system, designed for low-end and ultra-budget smartphones (but is also used by some tablets). However, it is intended for smartphones with less tha ...
operating system. This phone is classified as an entry-level phone and is aimed at replacing
feature phone A feature phone (also spelled featurephone) is a type or class of mobile phone that retains the form factor of earlier generations of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. They tend to use an ...
s and providing basic
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
services efficiently at low specifications.


Jio apps

In May 2016, Jio launched a bundle of multimedia apps on
Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...
as part of its upcoming 4G services. While the apps are available to download for everyone, a user will require a Jio
SIM card file:SIM-Karte von Telefónica O2 Europe - Standard und Micro.jpg, A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout) file:Sim card.png, A smart card taken from a Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM mobile phone file:Simkarte NFC SecureE ...
to use them. Additionally, most of the apps are in the
beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...
phase. Notable apps include: * JioPages – a web browser for Android devices * JioChat – instant messaging app *
JioCinema JioCinema is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Viacom 18, a subsidiary of TV18. Launched on 5 September 2016, JioCinema's content library includes films, television shows, web series, music vi ...
– online HD video library * JioCloud – cloud-based backup tool * JioHealth – health services app * JioNews – e-reader for news * JioMeet – video-conferencing platform * JioMoney – online payments/wallet app *
JioSaavn JioSaavn is an Indian online music streaming service and a digital distributor of Hindi, English, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri and other regional Indian music around the world. Since it was founded in 2007 as Saavn, th ...
– for online and offline music streaming in English and Indian languages * JioSecurity – security app *
JioTV JioTV is an Indian streaming television service, owned by Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. JioTV is a live TV channel streaming platform. JioTV has over 950+ channels. History JioTV, launched in 2016, from the digi ...
– TV Channels streaming service * JioVoice – VoLTE phone simulator * MyJio – manage Jio account and digital services associated with it *
JioMart JioMart is an Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, that started as a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms. The company initially focused on online groceries sales before expanding into ...
- Online shopping app


Controversies


Issue with incumbents

In September 2016, the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India. ...
(TRAI) summoned Jio and the country's existing telecom operators like
Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, ...
,
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
, and
Idea Cellular Idea Cellular (commonly referred to as Idea, and stylised as ''!dea'') was an Indian mobile network operator based at Mumbai, Maharashtra. Idea was a pan-India integrated GSM operator and had 220.00 million subscribers as of June 2018. ...
to meet and discuss an issue regarding the interconnection between the operators. This was a result after Jio complained to TRAI and
Department of Telecom The Department of Telecommunications, abbreviated to DoT, is a department of the Ministry of Communications of the executive branch of the Government of India. History Telecom services have been recognized the world-over as an important tool fo ...
(DoT) about other operators not honoring their commercial agreements to let Jio use their network resources. The company further added that the operators are trying to sabotage its entry into the telecom scene. However, DoT dismissed the request and directed TRAI to help settle the dispute amicably. Moreover, the
Cellular Operators Association of India The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group focused mainly on telecommunications industry. COAI was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-governmental society. As of ...
(COAI) requested TRAI to include all the operators in the discussion instead of the three. The incumbent operators had previously approached the country's PMO to reiterate their stance they "''are in no way obliged or in any position to entertain Jio's requests for interconnection points as they do not have either the network or the financial resources to terminate the latter's humongous volumes of potentially asymmetric voice traffic.''" Responding to this, Mukesh Ambani, owner of Jio, said, "''All operators have publicly said last week that they will provide this (interconnect and MNP). So, we are waiting. These are all great companies. They have their own reputations to protect. I am confident they won't violate the law.''" Commenting about number portability, he added, "The number belongs to the consumer. No operator can cause trouble if they want to change operators." However, on 12 September 2016, Idea Cellular agreed to allow Jio to use 196 of its interconnection access points.


Subscriber data breach

On 10 July 2017, Jio's customer data was allegedly leaked on the website magicapk.com. The website was suspended shortly after the news of the breach broke out.


Farmers' boycott

During the
2020–2021 Indian Farmers' Protest The 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The acts, often called the Farm Bills, have been described as "anti-farmer laws" by many farmer unions ...
, farmers across multiple states in northern part of India boycotted and vandalized Jio's towers owing to allegations of Reliance Industries's support to controversial farm laws of India. Jio blamed its competitors Airtel and Vodafone for spreading rumours of "Reliance being an undue beneficiary in the farm bills", an allegation both the companies denied. The company saw a loss of around 25 lakh (2.5 million) subscribers in Punjab and Haryana between November and December 2020.


Bird deaths

In January 2021, several social media posts started circulating linking bird deaths to Jio's 5G network trials. The claims were found to be fake as 5G trials were not yet permitted. The cause of the death of the birds is determined as due to an outbreak of
bird flu "Bird Flu" is an urumee melam-dance song by recording artist M.I.A. on her second studio album '' Kala'' (2007). It was released as a digital download in 2006 through XL Recordings under exclusive license to Interscope Records in the US. Cr ...
.


See also

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Jio Payments Bank Jio Payments Bank is an Indian payments bank, which started operating in 2018 and is owned by Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries was granted an in-principle approval by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to establish a new payments bank un ...
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JioSaavn JioSaavn is an Indian online music streaming service and a digital distributor of Hindi, English, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri and other regional Indian music around the world. Since it was founded in 2007 as Saavn, th ...
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Reliance Foundation Reliance Foundation is an Indian non-profit organisation which was founded in 2010 by Mukesh Ambani. It is wholly owned by Reliance Industries Limited and is one of the largest non-profit foundations in the country. History Reliance Foundati ...
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Reliance Industries Limited Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is o ...
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Telecommunications in India India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone) with 1179.49 million subscribers . It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom op ...
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List of telecom companies in India This is a list of mobile, DTH, ISP, wireless and wireline operators in India. Wireless operators As of 31 October 2022, there are 117.04 crore (1.17 billion) wireless subscribers including inactive users in India according to Telecom Regulat ...
*
List of mobile network operators For a more comprehensive list of mobile phone operators, see Mobile country codes. Terrestrial This is a list of the world's thirty largest terrestrial mobile phone network operators measured by number of subscriptions. Satellite based Thi ...


References


External links

* * {{Major telecommunications companies Companies based in Mumbai Telecommunications companies of India Internet service providers of India Mobile phone companies of India Indian companies established in 2007 Indian brands Reliance Industries subsidiaries Jio 2007 establishments in Maharashtra