Reliance Jio 'Working Aggressively' to Meet 4G Rollout Target

Reliance Industries Ltd, building the nation's biggest 4G telecommunications network, is "working aggressively" to meet a rollout target set by the government, the company said in its annual report.

The company, controlled by one of India's richest men, Mukesh Ambani, made a dramatic return to the telecommunications sector by acquiring the only company that managed to win nationwide 4G airwave in a 2010 government auction.

But its Reliance Jio Infocomm unit has yet to launch commercial 4G services and has until this year comply with rules.

In its annual report released on Wednesday, Reliance Industries said Reliance Jio would offer 4G voice calling using the VoLTE technology. It also plans to rollout high-speed Internet services using a fibre network, in addition to the 4G wireless network, it said.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Reliance Jio Infocomm was partnering with Huawei to source various 4G smartphones, tablets, and dongles to India.

"Reliance Jio and Huawei have signed an agreement for 4G devices which includes smartphones, tablets and MiFi dongles. It has signed agreement with couple of other Chinese device makers as well," an industry source said.

The shipments dates are yet to be confirmed, he said, adding that there are two other Chinese firms in advanced talks to supply 4G devices.

RJio and Huawei did not respond to queries on the deal.

Last week, RJio had said that it is "actively working with all major handset device manufacturers to ensure and certify their phones for use on Jio network and shall ensure adequate availability of phones in entire price range".

Written with agency inputs