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Tag: Jio

  • Google most influential brand: Ipsos study

    Google most influential brand: Ipsos study

    MUMBAI: Ipsos, an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals, has released a study on Most Influential Brands (MIB) in India. Affluent Indians have chosen their winners. Google has emerged as the MIB of circa 2017.

    Technology and e-tailing brands have taken up other places in the top five positions, as per Ipsos study. Amazon is at the number two spot, followed by the mobile service provider Jio at the third spot, social engagement site Facebook is ranked fourth, followed by e-marketplace Flipkart, at the fifth position.  

    Ipsos executive director brand health tracking Jyoti Malladi said, “Influential brands provide a sense of purpose by reflecting our personal values. They are an extension of us. They help consumers engage with them long after the purchase. Further, consumers make deep emotional connections with these brands as they are surrounded by them for the most part, occupying a meaningful place in their lives.”

    Barring one FMCG player, the rest are all technology and telecom brands – Samsung (ranked sixth), Patanjali (ranked seventh), Microsoft (ranked eighth), iPhone (ranked ninth) and Apple (ranked tenth).

    The MIB study ranks 100 brands across categories, shortlisted as per advertising spends. The key parameters of evaluation were – trustworthy, engagement, leading edge, corporate citizenship and presence.

    The study was conducted online, among 1000 nationally representative affluent audiences from the top metros.

  • Reliance Jio, SBI partner to boost digital transactions

    Reliance Jio, SBI partner to boost digital transactions

    MUMBAI: SBI and Reliance Jio have entered into a collaboration to increase SBI’s digital customer base multi-fold. SBI’s Yono app will integrate with MyJio platform. Yono’s digital banking features and solutions will be enabled through the MyJio platform.

    Jio Prime will offer exclusive deals from Reliance retail, Jio, partner brands and merchants. SBI customers will be offered additional loyalty reward earning opportunities as well as broader redemption within Reliance, Jio and other online and physical partner ecosystems.

    “As India’s largest Bank with leadership in digital banking, we are delighted to partner with Jio the world’s largest network. All the areas of co-operation are mutually beneficial enhancing the digital foot-print for SBI customers with superior and rewarding customer experiences,” SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar commented on the partnership.

    SBI will engage Jio as one of its preferred partners for designing and providing network and connectivity solutions. Moreover, the public sector bank will launch customer-centric services such as video banking and other on-demand services.

    “The scale of the SBI customer base is unmatched globally. Jio is committed to using its superior network and platforms combined with the retail ecosystem to accelerate digital adoption serving all the needs for SBI’s and Jio’s customers,” RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

  • Jio numbers up on larger subscriber base and higher usage of services

    Jio numbers up on larger subscriber base and higher usage of services

    BENGALURU: When Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s biggest startup in the world Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) started operations it had startled the Indian telecom industry ecosystem in the country. Jio had reported a net profit of Rs 723 crore against operating revenue of Rs 20,154 crore and value of services of Rs 23,714 crore for fiscal 2018 (year ended 31 March 2018, FY 2018).

    For the first quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Q1 2018, quarter or period under review), the company’s operating revenue increased 14.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to Rs 9,653 crore from Rs 8,421 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q4 2018. Net standalone profit for the quarter under review was Rs 612 crore.

    Jio’s EBIT increased 14.7 per cent q-o-q n Q1 2019 to Rs 1,715 crore as compared to Rs 1,495 crore in Q4 2018. EBITDA increased 16.8 per cent q-o-q during the period under review to Rs 3,147 crore.

    Jio says in its earnings media release that customer activity grew substantially in the quarter under review with average data consumption per user per month of 10.6 GB and average voice consumption of 744 minutes per user per month.  Also, video consumption drove most of the usage, increasing to 340 crore hours per month on the network; average video consumption of 15.4 hours per subscriber per month. For Q4 2018, the company had reported average data consumption per user per month of 9.7 GB and average voice consumption of 716 minutes per user per month. Also video consumption was at over 240 crore hours per month in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Jio added 28.7 subscribers Q1 2019 and hence its subscriber base increased to 215.3 million in Q1 2019 from 186.6 million in Q4 2018. Average revenue per user (ARPU) declined slightly q-o-q to Rs 135.50 per month in Q1 2019 from Rs 137.1 per month in Q4 2018. The company reported subscriber churn of 0.3 per cent per month in Q1 2019 as compared to a slightly lower 0.25 per cent per month in Q4 2018.

    Reliance Industries numbers for Q1 2019

    Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the parent company of Jio. RIL consolidated revenue increased by 56.5 per cent to Rs 141,699 crore ($ 20.7 billion) in Q1 2019. Consolidated PBDIT increased by 52.8 per cent to Rs 22,449 crore ($ 3.3 billion). Consolidated Profit Before Tax increased by 30.3 per cent to Rs 13,726 crore ($ 2.0 billion).Consolidated Cash Profit increased by 41.2 per cent to Rs 15,892 crore ($ 2.3 billion). Consolidated Net Profit increased by 17.9 per cent to Rs 9,459 crore ($ 1.4 billion).

    Company speak

    Commenting on the results, Reliance Industries Ltd, the parent company of Jio, chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said: “We continue to focus on strong delivery through operational excellence in our portfolio of businesses. Financial results of Q1 2019 underscore the strength of the petrochemicals we have reinforced over the last investment cycle. Our petrochemicals business generated record EBITDA with strong volumes and an upswing in polyester chain margins. Refining business performance remained steady despite the seasonal weakness in cracks. Continuing strength in global demand for oil products and implementation of more stringent environmental norms for marine fuels augurs well for our refining business. Our consumer businesses continue to scale new highs and now account for nearly 21 per cent of consolidated segment EBITDA. Retail business revenues have more than doubled and EBITDA has trebled on a y-o-y basis. Jio added a record number of subscribers, highlighting the compelling technology and value proposition that Jio offers vis-à-vis other networks. The scalability of our consumer business platforms is driving unprecedented value generation for our customers, our country and our shareholders.”

  • Gas-O-Fast hands digital duties to Columbus India

    Gas-O-Fast hands digital duties to Columbus India

    MUMBAI: Columbus India, the data-driven digital marketing agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has been appointed as the digital agency for Gas-O-Fast, a product of Mankind Pharma. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office.

    As part of the new mandate, the assignment will involve using Columbus India’s expertise in the digital ecosystem for managing digital media, SEO (search engine optimisation), SMO (social media optimisation), website development and maintenance for Gas-O-Fast.

    Gas-O-Fast assistant general manager of marketing Joy Chatterjee says, “It gives us immense pleasure to partner with Columbus India as our digital social agency. This relationship will help Gas-O-Fast reach out to our potential users across the internet, thereby maximising our reach and keeping our focus on the healthy lifestyle of our customers.”

    Columbus India chief business officer Nitin Sabharwal adds, “Getting our first brand from Mankind Pharma is very exciting and we look forward to deploying our complete creative suite of services allowing us to deliver high social engagement for the brand.” 

    Columbus India CEO Anurag Gupta mentions, “It’s a start to our relationship with Mankind Pharma who have placed their faith in us for their brand Gas-O-Fast. We look forward to making this relationship into a multi-brand and multi-services engagement.”

  • CTOs of telecom giants Airtel and Jio quit

    CTOs of telecom giants Airtel and Jio quit

    MUMBAI: Two top executives from the Indian telecom behemoths, Airtel and Jio, have resigned. Jagbir Singh and Shyam Mardikar were working as chief technology officers in Jio and Airtel respectively, according to a Press Trust of India report.

    Jagbir Singh joined Reliance Industrial Ltd’s (RIL) telecom venture Jio in May 2015 before the soft launch of 4G services. He also worked with Jio’s rival Airtel and Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung. His experience spans over 28 years.

    Shyam Mardikar who joined Airtel six years back has also put in papers. Since January 2017 he was working as the CTO of the company. However, before this stint also Mardikar worked with Airtel for almost a decade from 2001-2010.

    While Jio did not respond to the development, the report says an Airtel spokesperson has confirmed the development. It also claims Mardikar has resigned for further growth in career.

  • Powered by Jio, RIL touches $100 bn market cap

    Powered by Jio, RIL touches $100 bn market cap

    MUMBAI: Reliance Industries becomes the second company to hit $100 billion market capitalisation after TCS in 2018. Previously, in 2008 too, the company has hit the $100 billion mark when the rupee was around 40 to the dollar, according to Moneycontrol.com.

    RIL has seen a hike in the share prices of oil-to-telecom for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday. The stock closed 4.42 per cent higher at Rs 1,082.20 on the BSE and taking total five-day gains to over 12 per cent. This could be due to an aggressive plan announced in the AGM and ahead of its June quarter earnings.

    While having a buy call on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,340 per share (which implies 29 per cent potential upside), global brokerage house Goldman Sachs said it expects Q1 EBITDA to grow 45 per cent YoY (up two per cent QoQ).

    The company’s market capitalisation stood at Rs 6,85,726.98 crore at its record price level and TCS at Rs 7,45,612.17 crore (One US dollar = Rs 68.64).

    SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com expects that the telecom business will be the biggest contributor to the share price of Reliance Industries over the next 18 months. Hence, he is banking on the growth of Jio and Reliance Retail.

    Speaking about positive factors that could impact the stock, he said, “There is an increase in margins of the petrochemicals and refinery segments. The monetisation plan for Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail are likely in the next 30 months.”

    KR Choksey Investment Managers MD Deven Choksey was quoted stating that, the visibility is clearly emerging for Jio as the average revenue per user of Jio will jump from Rs 150 to higher levels.

    “Through the fiber-to-home proposition, if Jio customer base reaches 40 crore from the current 20 crore, it would mean an addition of Rs two lakh crore to the total revenue and 50 per cent of that may be EBITDA which works out to Rs one lakh crore. This could happen in two or three years. This is why the market is gung-ho about Jio,” said Choksey, according to Moneycontrol.com.

    Reliance consumer businesses, including Jio and retail, up from two per cent to 13 per cent of consolidated EBITDA.

  • TRAI fines Jio, Airtel, others for not meeting service quality norms

    TRAI fines Jio, Airtel, others for not meeting service quality norms

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rapped leading operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular on the knuckles for failing to meet the Quality of Service standards in the December quarter, reported news agency PTI.

    Data disruptor Reliance Jio was handed a fine of Rs 31 lakh based on the TRAI-defined service quality parameters such as Point of Interconnect congestion, accessibility of call centres and customer care. TRAI’s fine pertains to multiple circles or service areas in which Jio offers it service.

    Idea Cellular was fined Rs 28-29 lakh for the December quarter for its inability to match benchmarks on call drops, metering and billing, both pre-paid and post-paid, accessibility of call centre or customer care and its timelines for multiple circles.

    Bharti Airtel, the biggest player in the market, was slapped with a Rs 23 lakh for the same period for non-compliance on parameters entailing metering and billing (postpaid and prepaid) and accessibility of call centres, and stipulated response time on operators answering calls in certain circles.

    Vodafone was fined Rs 9 lakh for non-compliance of select criteria like time-bound refund of deposits after closure, response time for calls answered by operators, as well as call drops.

    Aircel and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) too were handed fines by the regulator.

    The fines were in line with TRAI’s renewed focus on quality benchmarks in the telecom sector.

    Last year, the regulator had ordered telcos to adhere to the quality of service benchmarks from October 1, 2017.

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  • Now, Reliance Jio coud set off broadband turf war with Airtel

    Now, Reliance Jio coud set off broadband turf war with Airtel

    MUMBAI: The entry of Reliance Jio in the telecom market disrupted mobile data pricing. Now, as the Mukesh Ambani-owned venture is set to enter the broadband service too, its competitor Bharti Airtel is also expected to bombard consumers with great offers. After telecom, the two companies are now prepping themselves for a war in the home broadband segment.

    According to media reports, the broadband service from Jio will offer data speeds of 100 Mbps, with massive data limit, starting at Rs 1,000-1,500 a month. Moreover, it’s expected to offer a combination of fast connectivity and unlimited video and voice calls through the Voice Over Internet Protocol (Vo-IP).

    To lure more customers, Jio may offer the initial service free of cost. Jio has already rolled out pilot services in few cities. Economic Times reported a person familiar with the development as stating that Jio might reveal the timing of commercial launch on 5 July, the day of Reliance Industry Ltd’s general meeting.

    Airtel is also gearing up efforts to revamp its existing wired broadband connection. The telco has set aside Rs 24,000 crore for the financial year 2019. From current 89 cities it wants to expand its service to 100 key cities targeting big data consumption zones.

    “We are closely watching the wired home broadband space and will combine innovation with aggressive investments and do whatever it takes to stay competitive on services and tariffs and grow our home customer base,” a senior Bharti Airtel executive said as quoted by ET.

    The entry of Jio may again disrupt home broadband pricing forcing its rivals, especially Airtel, to decrease rates, repeating the 2016 Jio 4G phenomenon.

    Also Read:

    Jio led broadband while Hathway led wired broadband subs growth in 2018

    Reliance Jio ready to disrupt wired broadband: Matthew Oomen

  • Reliance Jio to soon launch 5G services: all you need to know

    Reliance Jio to soon launch 5G services: all you need to know

    MUMBAI: After Reliance Jio took lead in revolutionising how people access the internet with 4G network, it is now preparing to upgrade to lightning speed 5G services. According to media reports, the company has upgraded its 4G IP network and started a pre-5G internet service much ahead of its domestic rivals.

    While operators in the United States will be among the first to launch 5G commercial services between late 2018 and mid-2019, Jio hopes to launch its trial services later this year. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) recently claimed to have built a future-ready network which will seamlessly deploy 5G.

    The company has already started offering 5G mobile internet services on the same speed level on dry run. However, Jio Network Towers aren’t currently 5G compatible and need to be modified for better functioning.

    It is unlikely for a complete rollout before 2020 in India as per government’s assessment which includes auction of spectrum for 5G services, but telcos may opt for a soft launch much sooner than that.

    Among Jio’s domestic rivals, Airtel has been testing 5G in Delhi-NCR. To test their preparedness for 5G, Vodafone and Idea are conducting similar MIMO technology-based trial runs.

    The leading handset-makers including Samsung, Nokia (HMD), Google Pixel, Xiaomi, LG, Huawei, One Plus Six will most likely announce 5G compatible sets. It is not yet clear if Jio would partner with them. Furthermore, there are reports that Jio might introduce its own 5G handset in the market at a cheaper price.

    Also Read:

    Reliance Jio ready to disrupt wired broadband: Matthew Oomen

    Jio led broadband while Hathway led wired broadband subs growth in 2018

  • Reliance Jio subscriber base up 16.5% QoQ to 186.6 million

    MUMBAI: According to Reliance Industries Limited’s annual report, Jio had 186.6 million subscribers at the end of March, up 16.5% from the 160.1 million at the end of last year. The company, however, did not mention how many of these are active subscribers.

     “Jio, now the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile data network, stunned the world and made us proud by turning profitable in the very first year of operations” said RIL, chairman and managing director, Mukesh Ambani.

    In its first year of commercial operations, Jio generated a net profit of Rs 723 crore on a turnover of Rs 23,714 crore.

    “Jio continued with its strong subscriber growth, with 186.6 million customers at the end of March 2018, and the lowest churn in the industry at 0.25 per cent per month. Each Jio subscriber on an average consumes 9.7 GB data, 716 minutes of voice calls, and 13.8 hours of video per month,” the report added.

    The report also made a mention of Jio’s superior speed, claiming that its average download speed of 17.9 Mbps was more than twice the network speed of any of its competitors.

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