Mumbai: Is India set to get 5G network soon. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani appeared to suggest so.
After having posted record profits of Rs 831 crore in 2018 Q4, Ambani-led Jio on Friday said that the network is ready for 5G technology. He also committed to make the state of Gujarat fully digital.
“Reliance Jio is committed to make Gujarat the best digitally connected state in the world. Gujarat will remain on the forefront of digital connectivity for years to come,” said Mukesh Ambani at the Vibrant Gujarat event.
The reason for the telecom giant’s profits is the rise in customer base, though average revenue per user has continued to decline. Jio currently has 28 crore consumers as compared to 16 crore a year back.
He also informed that Jio and Reliance Retail will launch an e-commerce platform, targeted first to small retailers and shop keepers in Gujarat. He also appealed against data colonisation stating the example of Mahatma Gandhi, and mentioned that data is the new oil and it must be controlled by Indians, and not global corporate.
This direct attack on foreign companies comes in the time when the company is intending to make JioMoney compete with global fintech players such as Google Pay, Amazon Pay and Facebook-owned WhatsApp Pay. Apart from Ambani, Paytm owner Vijay Shekhar Sharma has also welcomed RBI’s new mandate requiring payment data of Indians to be stored in the country.
