We are living in the best of times, with revolutionary breakthroughs in science and technology, especially in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computing, Robotics, and Life Sciences, said Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Thursday while addressing shareholders at the company's 47th Annual General Meeting. At 1:45 PM, the company announced in an exchange filing that the Board of Directors will meet on September 5, 2024, to consider issuing bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.
Research and Development
"We have built an AI-native digital infrastructure for all Reliance businesses and developed our software stack, integrating end-to-end workflows and real-time dashboards," the chairman announced, noting that the company, which employs over 1,000 scientists and researchers, has invested Rs 3,643 crore towards Research and Development in FY24 alone. Reliance has filed patents in 6G, 5G, AI-Large Language Models, AI-Deep Learning, Big Data, Devices, Internet of Things, and Narrowband-IoT.
Speaking about digital services, the chairman said, "Thanks to Jio, India is now the world's largest data market," highlighting that Jio's network carries nearly 8 percent of global mobile traffic, surpassing even major global operators, including those in developed markets.
Data Usage on Jio Network
"Jio's commitment to affordability has made its services accessible to all, with current data prices that are one-fourth of the global average and just 10 percent of those in developed countries."
Jio currently has 490 million customers, and each Jio customer, on average, uses over 30 GB of data monthly, driving a 33 percent growth in our data traffic over the past year.
In home services, Jio has nearly 30 million home customers across broadband and digital TV services, making the company one of the largest digital home service providers globally, the chairman said.
Home Grown OSS and BSS
"Our Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) are also fully homegrown. These platforms are the backbone of our network, ensuring top-tier service quality and efficiency," he added.
"Over 85 percent of 5G radio cells operating in India belong to Jio. With the widest coverage and the highest quality, Jio True 5G now reaches every corner of India."
"Jio has transformed India from 5G-dark to 5G-bright, creating one of the world's most advanced 5G networks. Through unmatched spectrum holdings, 5G Standalone Architecture, and advanced technologies like Carrier Aggregation and Network Slicing, Jio is the only operator in India, and among the first globally, to fully harness 5G's power."
Jio 5G users
The chairman highlighted that in just two years, the company has gained over 130 million customers who have embraced Jio 5G.
"And this is just the beginning. Today, nearly all smartphones over Rs 8,000 (USD 96) sold in India are 5G-ready. As 5G phones become more affordable, 5G adoption on Jio's network will accelerate, further boosting data consumption. With Jio's lead in 5G coverage, capacity, and quality, we expect to capture the lion's share of the accelerating 5G adoption," he said.
Mukesh Ambani also highlighted that as more users migrate to 5G, 4G network capacity is opening up, which allows over 200 million 2G users in India to move to Jio's 4G network.
Also Read: Jio AirFiber Service is Now Available PAN India
JioAirFiber
Regarding Home Broadband services, the chairman highlighted that the JioAirFiber, a 5G-based home broadband service launched in October 2023, offers high-speed broadband across India, fulfilling customer orders faster than possible with optical fiber service.
"In just over six months, we acquired our first one million air fiber customers. We acquired the next 1 million air fiber customers in just 100 days. We are still streamlining our operations and see potential to accelerate even further," he added.
"We are now challenging ourselves to add a million homes every 30 days. With this momentum, we are confident of reaching our target of 100 million home broadband customers at record speed. We are also targeting over 20 million small and medium businesses, bringing them the connectivity to thrive in today's digital age."
Artificial Intelligence
The chairman specifically discussed Artificial Intelligence (AI) and recalled the promise to bring the benefits of AI to every Indian, everywhere. "AI has become integral to everything we do," he said.
Jio Brain
Reliance is embracing the latest in Generative AI, he noted, saying, "We are embedding AI into all our processes and offerings, creating end-to-end workflows with real-time, data-driven insights and automation. This is helping us deliver smarter, more responsive services to both internal users and customers. To streamline AI adoption, Jio is developing a comprehensive suite of tools and platforms that span the entire AI lifecycle. We call this Jio Brain."
"Jio Brain enables us to accelerate AI adoption across Jio, driving faster decisions, more accurate predictions, and a better understanding of customer needs. We are also starting to use Jio Brain to drive a similar transformation across other Reliance operating companies and to fast-track their AI journey as well."
Truly National AI infrastructure
With the company's AI Everywhere For Everyone vision, the chairman said it is laying the groundwork for a truly national AI infrastructure, with plans to establish gigawatt-scale AI-ready data centers in Jamnagar, powered entirely by Reliance's green energy. The company plans to create multiple AI inference facilities across various locations throughout the country.
The chairman said the goal is to create the world's lowest AI inferencing cost, right here in India. He cited a few examples of use cases, including AI in healthcare, entertainment, agriculture, and the education sector.
AI Use Cases
"In healthcare, AI can assist doctors in diagnosing diseases more accurately and faster than ever before, potentially saving countless lives. In entertainment, AI can create personalized experiences for users, making content more engaging and relevant. In agriculture, AI can analyze vast amounts of data from various sources, such as weather patterns, soil health, and crop growth, and provide farmers with actionable insights to increase farm productivity and income. Similarly, in the education sector, AI can offer personalised learning experiences, helping students learn at their own pace and in their own style, regardless of their location or background," the chairman explained.
Jio AI Cloud Welcome offer
On this occasion, the chairman announced the Jio AI-Cloud Welcome offer. As part of the offer, starting this Diwali, Jio users will receive up to 100GB of free cloud storage to store and access all their photos, videos, documents, and other digital content and data. The company also promised to offer the most affordable prices in the market for those needing even higher storage.
Jio TvOS
Unveiled by Akash Ambani and Kiran Thomas is the Jio TvOS, the company's 100 percent home-grown operating system for the Jio Set-Top Box. Jio TvOS supports home entertainment features like Ultra HD 4K video, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. The previously introduced voice assistant, Hello Jio, is now part of TvOS, allowing users to control the Set-Top Box with their voice, accessible using the mic button on the Jio Remote. Jio App Store is also a key feature of the Jio STB.
"Recently, we made Hello Jio even smarter using the latest Generative AI technologies, improving its natural language understanding and making it feel more human-like," the announcements by both Akash and Thomas highlighted, noting that Jio Home IoT solutions are fully integrated with Jio TvOS.
JioPhonecall AI
Akash Ambani introduced the audience to the JioPhonecall AI service, which lets users use AI with every phone call. "JioPhonecall AI can record and store any call in Jio Cloud and automatically transcribe it, which means automatically converting it from voice to text. It can also summarize the call and even translate it into another language. This allows anyone to easily capture and access important voice conversations, making them searchable, shareable, and understandable across languages."
"All your call recordings, transcriptions, summaries, and translations created by JioPhonecall AI are safely stored in Jio Cloud, so you can access them anytime. And, with our Jio Cloud Welcome Offer, Jio customers will get plenty of affordable storage with the highest privacy and security," said Kiran Thomas.
"These are just a few ways we are bringing advanced AI through Connected Intelligence to every Indian, simply and effectively. We will keep bringing you AI solutions that work hand-in-hand with our network and cloud, making life easier and better for everyone in India," concluded Akash Ambani about AI digital services.
