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Tag: Mukesh Ambani

  • Reliance to launch Jio On Demand with over 450 TV channels

    Reliance to launch Jio On Demand with over 450 TV channels

    MUMBAI: The employee launch of Reliance Jio has raised the bar of expectation and filled the atmosphere with promise. And there are no better companies in India than Reliance when it comes to meeting expectations. The disruptive march that started since the announcement of Reliance Jio is now getting more and more exciting. India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and his company is now set to disrupt the content consumption ecosystem with the launch of an on-demand content consumption service, which will also have live TV.

    Christened Jio On Demand, the service will be unveiled by April 2016.

    “The service will be launched with over 450 channels on board. We are in constant talks with broadcasters in order to make sure that Jio On Demand has a versatile catalog,” a company official told Indiantelevision.com on condition of anonymity.

    Jio On Demand is already available for Reliance employees. A user of the service said, “I connect it with my TV, I see content on my smart-phone and being a Reliance 4G subscriber, I have yet to face a bandwidth issue. The app is very user friendly and the interface is least complicated. I can see the millennials going crazy about this.”

    The app is available for both iOS and Android platforms, but only for Reliance employees and privileged consumers as of now. The pricing of the service is yet to be determined.

    A associate working closely on the Jio On Demand service added, “I think the app will only be available for Reliance Infocom 4G subscribers and will be bundled with a data pack. So the consumer will have access to both data and the app. I am very sure that the pricing will be reasonable and may set a new benchmark for data pricing in India.”

    Reliance Jio Infocomm’s social networking service Jio Chat was last year and is accessible to all for free. Reliance has already teamed up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to launch the digital wallet service called Jio Money. The service is expected to launch in the next few months, and will help consumers to make cashless payments. Amongst other services are also Switch-and-Walk, Jio Drive and music streaming service Jio Beats.

    “All the apps will have special and unique offerings, they are already rolled out for Reliance employees and are tested thoroughly so that once they come out commercially, they are a thrill for the users,” concludes the senior official.

     

  • Reliance to launch Jio On Demand with over 450 TV channels

    Reliance to launch Jio On Demand with over 450 TV channels

    MUMBAI: The employee launch of Reliance Jio has raised the bar of expectation and filled the atmosphere with promise. And there are no better companies in India than Reliance when it comes to meeting expectations. The disruptive march that started since the announcement of Reliance Jio is now getting more and more exciting. India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and his company is now set to disrupt the content consumption ecosystem with the launch of an on-demand content consumption service, which will also have live TV.

    Christened Jio On Demand, the service will be unveiled by April 2016.

    “The service will be launched with over 450 channels on board. We are in constant talks with broadcasters in order to make sure that Jio On Demand has a versatile catalog,” a company official told Indiantelevision.com on condition of anonymity.

    Jio On Demand is already available for Reliance employees. A user of the service said, “I connect it with my TV, I see content on my smart-phone and being a Reliance 4G subscriber, I have yet to face a bandwidth issue. The app is very user friendly and the interface is least complicated. I can see the millennials going crazy about this.”

    The app is available for both iOS and Android platforms, but only for Reliance employees and privileged consumers as of now. The pricing of the service is yet to be determined.

    A associate working closely on the Jio On Demand service added, “I think the app will only be available for Reliance Infocom 4G subscribers and will be bundled with a data pack. So the consumer will have access to both data and the app. I am very sure that the pricing will be reasonable and may set a new benchmark for data pricing in India.”

    Reliance Jio Infocomm’s social networking service Jio Chat was last year and is accessible to all for free. Reliance has already teamed up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to launch the digital wallet service called Jio Money. The service is expected to launch in the next few months, and will help consumers to make cashless payments. Amongst other services are also Switch-and-Walk, Jio Drive and music streaming service Jio Beats.

    “All the apps will have special and unique offerings, they are already rolled out for Reliance employees and are tested thoroughly so that once they come out commercially, they are a thrill for the users,” concludes the senior official.

     

  • Raghav Bahl resigns as director from Network18 & TV18

    Raghav Bahl resigns as director from Network18 & TV18

    MUMBAI: Network 18 Media & Investments and TV18 Broadcast founder Raghav Bahl has resigned as a director from both the companies with effect from 8 February, 2016 due to his “pre-occupation.”

    Bahl exited the TV news business after the sale of Network18 Media & Investments and all its subsidiary companies in 2014 to Independent Media Trust, which is part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

    It may be recalled that Bahl was recently in the news for his intentions to re-enter the news broadcast space with Bloomberg.

    Bahl’s new venture The Quintillion Media, which also runs the online portal The Quint, is said to be looking at a strategic partnership with Bloomberg in the wake of the latter exiting its licensing partnership with Reliance ADAG’s Business Broadcast News.

    According to media reports, Bahl and Bloomberg have invested in a joint venture, which will later look at broadcast news with Quintillion Media holding at least a 51 per cent stake.

    As per reports, the new online portal under the JV is expected to launch in the coming weeks, while the business news channel is expected to launch by the end of the current calendar year. The Quint, however will continue to exist as it is.

  • Raghav Bahl resigns as director from Network18 & TV18

    Raghav Bahl resigns as director from Network18 & TV18

    MUMBAI: Network 18 Media & Investments and TV18 Broadcast founder Raghav Bahl has resigned as a director from both the companies with effect from 8 February, 2016 due to his “pre-occupation.”

    Bahl exited the TV news business after the sale of Network18 Media & Investments and all its subsidiary companies in 2014 to Independent Media Trust, which is part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

    It may be recalled that Bahl was recently in the news for his intentions to re-enter the news broadcast space with Bloomberg.

    Bahl’s new venture The Quintillion Media, which also runs the online portal The Quint, is said to be looking at a strategic partnership with Bloomberg in the wake of the latter exiting its licensing partnership with Reliance ADAG’s Business Broadcast News.

    According to media reports, Bahl and Bloomberg have invested in a joint venture, which will later look at broadcast news with Quintillion Media holding at least a 51 per cent stake.

    As per reports, the new online portal under the JV is expected to launch in the coming weeks, while the business news channel is expected to launch by the end of the current calendar year. The Quint, however will continue to exist as it is.

  • Reliance Jio to raise Rs 15,000 crore via rights issue

    Reliance Jio to raise Rs 15,000 crore via rights issue

    MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani’s telecom company Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd is planning to raise a sum of Rs 15,000 crore via a rights issue. The company’s board has approved the plan for the same.

    According to the information given in a regulatory filing, the company will issue 15 billion equity shares of Rs 10 each totalling up to a whopping amount of Rs 15,000 crore to its existing shareholders.

    As of yet, the company has not given any further clarification for raising such a large amount.

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Reliance Jio also inked a spectrum sharing and trading agreement with Reliance Communications to strengthen its indoor coverage and voice services.

    Further, the company also plans to offer 4G services at a monthly charge of Rs 300 – 500 and will also provide 4G mobile phones at a low price of Rs 4000 per unit.

     

  • Q3-2016: TV18 YoY EPS up 31%

    Q3-2016: TV18 YoY EPS up 31%

    BENGALURU: The Mukesh Ambani magic seems to be rubbing off on TV18 Broadcast Limited (TV18) acquired by his group in late May 2014. Be it Business News or GEC, most TV18 channels were rated at No. 1 or 2 as per BARC India ratings for the month of December 2015. In the case of general news, the company’s CNN-IBN was rated at the third spot.

     

    TV18 reported a 31.4 per cent YoY increase in consolidated earnings per share at Rs 0.46 in the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter) as compared to the Rs 0.35. EPS in the current quarter almost quadrupled QoQ (3.83 times) as compared to the Rs 0.12. The company reported net profit after tax (PAT) for the current quarter at Rs 78.29 crore (11.3 per cent margin) as compared to Rs 60.38 crore in Q3-2016 (9.9 per cent margin) and Rs 20.27 crore (3.3 per cent margin) in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    EPS for the nine-month period ended 31 December, 2015 (9M-2016) was Rs 0.57 as compared to a negative (loss) EPS of Rs 0.30 for 9M-2015. PAT for 9M-2016 was Rs 98.51 crore (5.2 per cent margin) as compared to a loss of Rs 50.94 crore during the corresponding nine-month period of the previous year. The company says that Q3-2016 numbers include operating loss of Rs 45 crore on account of new ETV news channels and Colors Infinity and also a one-time expense of Rs 10 crore for rebranding ETV regional entertainment channels as Colors. Further, 9M-2015 profitability vis-?-vis 9M-2016 was significantly influenced by advertisement income on account of the general elections and the union budget says the company.

     

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    TV18 reported 14 per cent YoY growth in total income from operations (TIO) in Q3-2016 at Rs 692.42 crore as compared to Rs 607.23 crore and a 13.8 per cent QoQ growth as compared to Rs 608.53 crore. TIO for 9M-2016 increased 12.4 per cent at Rs 1897.63 crore as compared to the Rs 1688.65 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

  • Mukesh Ambani flags off ambitious digital initiative – Reliance Jio

    Mukesh Ambani flags off ambitious digital initiative – Reliance Jio

    MUMBAI: On the eve of the 83rd birth anniversary of the family patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani, Reliance Infocom Limited (RIL) launched Jio, Mukesh Ambani’s most ambitious digital initiative designed to deliver hi-speed connectivity and 4G broadband services in every nook and corner of India, to its one lakh-plus employees and their families.

    The star-studded event, which featured Shah Rukh Khan and Academy-winning music director A R Rahman, saw many a firsts. The event saw the third-generation of Ambanis – twins Isha and Akash – taking centre-stage and welcoming the audience. It was also the first Employee-only, Partner-Consumer initiative ever to have happened in the history of corporate India, with over a lakh employees spread across a 1,072 centres across India, and one in Dallas, US, connected to the launch event at RCP on Jio’s own hi-speed network. Through two-way video conferencing, RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani interacted with employees, who were watching the event from distant places.

    The participants, all of whom where RIL and Jio’s employees hailed from varied cultural backgrounds located in diverse geographies. The motto: One India. One RIL. One Jio. One for all and all for one – resounded at the venue.

    RIL launch event was reflective of a miniature India, where people from all walks of life and from various backgrounds engaged simultaneously. With this employee launch, Jio became the common strand that runs through every single employee, entwining them together.

    Speaking on the occasion,  Ambani said, “Friends, today on the eve of the 83rd birthday of Dhirubhai, it is my proud privilege to invite all our Reliance families and friends to be the first to experience Jio’s services. While you enjoy Jio Digital Life, I am also counting on you, as part of my family, to be part of co-creating the best experience for all our customers. I am sure that when you experience the next generation service of Reliance Jio – you will spread the word.” 

    Iterating his confidence in the youth of India, he further added, “India and Indians cannot afford to be left behind in this new world. India is ranked around 150 in the Internet and mobile broadband penetration out of 230 countries; Jio is conceived to change this. 1.3 billion Indians cannot be left behind as the world enters a new era. We have the youngest population in the world. Give them the tools. Give them the skills. Give them the environment. They will surprise us. It is this opportunity to transform the lives of our 1.3 billion Indians that motivated Reliance to enter this space. And Jio is the result. Jio will help advance and realise the potential of every Indian and India. I have no doubt that with the launch of Jio, India’s rank will go up from around 150 to among the top 10 in the next few years for internet and mobile broadband penetration.”

    The event also saw the Old Reliance, the traditional projects and production powerhouse (B2B), joining hands with the New Reliance, the consumer-facing business of retail and digital services (B2C), to celebrate the employee launch of Jio, elevating them all on to a common digital platform where they will be living the same Digital Life. 

    The event was unique in another aspect. Digital townhalls of large corporates and multinationals usually involve only the top bosses. This is the first time a company has involved every single one of its employees, from the lowest rung right to the top, and their families in the town hall event. The corporate world has never witnessed anything like this before.

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the commercial launch of Reliance Jio is slated for March – April 2016.

  • Reliance Jio appoints Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador

    Reliance Jio appoints Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan will soon be seen as the face of Mukesh Ambani’s telecom services brand Reliance Jio, which is slated for a soft launch next week.

     

    Khan, who earlier endorsed rival telecom brand Airtel, will be present at Reliance Jio’s soft launch on 27 December, which is also the eve of Dhirubhai Ambani’s birth anniversary.

     

    As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Reliance Jio will be handing out two lakhs cards to hand-picked ‘privileged’ people as a part of the soft launch. The commercial roll-out of the telecom service is expected by March 2016.

     

    On 27 December, Khan will be unveiling the Reliance Jio brand along with the company’s employees. AR Rahman will also be a part of the launch.

  • Reliance Jio to soft launch with two lakh ‘privileged’ subscribers

    Reliance Jio to soft launch with two lakh ‘privileged’ subscribers

    MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm is all set to soft launch its telecom services brand Reliance Jio on 28 December, 2015 by handing out two lakhs cards to hand-picked ‘privileged’ people as a part of the launch.

     

    It may be recalled that Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Reliance Jio would soft launch on the eve of Dhirubhai Ambani’s birth anniversary (28 December) this year.

     

    Reliance Jio has been running test signals from a month now wherein the company’s employees have also been availing the services.

     

    A senior Reliance Jio official on condition of anonymity told Indiantelevision.com, “We will analyse the performance of our services over the next two months and a consumer base of two lakh is robust enough for that. After thorough analysis, we will do our commercial roll-out by March 2016.”

     

    The official added, “Our price package will be way lower than what is available in the market at this stage. We are entering a market where we want to have the largest number of subscribers and we will do that by providing the best services at the lowest price.”

     

    With a pan India MSO (multi-system operator) license under its belt, Reliance Jio is also in talks with both broadcasters and cable operators for their cable TV services. “By next month we will start signing deals. The technology is already in place and now we will focus on content deals. The work on cable TV front is also progressing at a good pace and by April we plan to start with 20 cities,” informed the official.

     

    Launching in a highly competitive market with multiple players, be it in the telecom or the cable space, it now remains to be seen how Reliance Jio’s pricing and service offerings are a notch above the rest.

  • Reliance Jio touches 70 mbps download speed during trials

    Reliance Jio touches 70 mbps download speed during trials

    NEW DELHI: The download speed on Reliance Jio’s 4G network during its beta-test phase peaked at 70 megabit per second but remained in 15-30 mbps range on most occasions, as per field trial report by brokerage firm Credit Suisse.

     

    “We experienced peak download speed of 70 mbps during our trials, and on most occasions in the 15-30 Mbps range, even on the move,” said the report by Credit Suisse Research Analysts Sunil Tirumalai and Chunky Shah.

     

    At 70 mbps download speed, a Bollywood movie size video can be downloaded in about half a minute while at 15-30 mbps, the same can be downloaded in about three minutes.

     

    The report compared the commercially launched 4G service of telecom major Airtel and beta network of Reliance Jio and found “Airtel 4G giving 10-20 mbps, often slower than Jio, and 3G network speeds of sub 2 mbps (peak 7 mbps).”

     

    Analysts found urban coverage of RJio network at par with incumbents but remarked rural coverage as “poor.”

     

    During trials analysts experienced call drop-free RJio network in Mumbai but lost signal three – four times when they entered on village roads.

     

    Analysts said that they experienced seamless phone call experience between Reliance Jio and network of other telecom operators.

     

    “Overall, our take away is that the Reliance Jio network is turning out to be as strong a threat to incumbents as we had feared. Next focus would be on pricing and marketing execution,” the report said.

     

    The conglomerate is planning to do a soft launch of the 4G services on Dhirubhai Ambani’s birth anniversary this year, which falls on 28 December.

     

    Credit Suisse analysts said that the speeds will fall once a commercial launch happens and more users get on to the network but globally 4G has delivered better speed than 3G services.

     

    The company has matched up with incumbents on coverage in urban area but there is not much rural focus.

     

    “Until the rural network is fixed, RJio could enter into roaming agreements with other operators. We suspect Jio would use sub-1GHz spectrum for rural coverage,” the report said.

     

    Commenting on handset availability for Reliance Jio’s 4G service, the report said that ZTE is making Reliance Jio’s LYF branded 4G handset and some handsets of Samsung, LG, Lenovo and ZTE also supported VoLTE calls.