Reliance Jio Working on homegrown 5G technology, To take on Huawei

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Reliance Jio Working on homegrown 5G technology, To take on Huawei

Mukesh Ambani announces $4 billion stake sale deal in Jio with Google 

Jio Platforms has unveiled the plan to take on disgruntled Chinese network provider Huawei, as it announced plans to launch homegrown 5G technology

At the 43rd annual general meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani said that its digital services arm Jio has designed and developed a complete 5G solution from scratch. 

Here are the highlights from Reliance Industries 43rd AGM 

The made-in-India technology can be deployed and launched in a years’ time once spectrum is available and Jio can easily upgrade its 4G network to 5G since it is an all-IP network architecture, Ambani said. 

Once it is proven in India, Jio Platforms is hoping that it would be well-positioned to be an exporter of 5G solutions to other telecom operators globally, as a complete managed service, thereby taking on Chinese company Huawei — that has been blacklisted by many countries globally. 

Google on board 

Completing its capital raising spree, Jio Platforms Limited, on Wednesday signed binding agreements with global tech giant Google, pursuant to which Google would invest Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.73% equity stake in Jio Platforms Limited on a fully-diluted basis. 

Google is investing at an equity valuation of Rs. 4.36 lakh crore. 

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. 

With the Google deal, Jio Platforms Limited has now four strategic partners Facebook, Intel, Qualcomm, and Google. It has also six technology and financial investors and three sovereign funds, taking the total tally of investors to 14. The Google deal completes the fundraising spree by the Jio Platforms — and total funds raised stand at astounding Rs 1,52,056 crore. 

The four strategic partners besides bringing in cash are also going to play a strategic role in shaping the future of Jio. 

Investment in RIL will be our biggest investment under the recently announced $10 billion digitization fund, said Sundar Pichai through video conferencing. 

“Google and Jio will partner to develop Android-based smartphone Operating System,” Ambani said. 

Including the recent rights issue, the total capital raised by Reliance in the past three months now amounts to Rs 2.13 lakh crore. 

However, due to global recession and slump in the demand globally, the $15-billion deal with Saudi Aramco seems missing its deadline. “The deal with Saudi Aramco hasn’t progressed as per stipulated timeline,” Ambani said.