With the advent of Reliance Jio, the telecom sector in India has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks to the free 4G services for six months. However, Jio is not only trying to make its presence felt in the telecom sector but is also betting big on the digital content services. If the rumours are believed to be true, Reliance Jio Infocomm’s (RJIL) next service might be Jio DTH, and the recent images leak further proves the service launch is just around the corner.
Right from day one, Jio is facing stiff competition from India’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel. From tariff wars to serious battles in speed test claims to misleading advertisements both Airtel and Jio have been going neck-to-neck against each other. Three months ago, we exclusively reported that Airtel would come up with its new high-tech hybrid DTH STB service to take on the Jio’s IPTV based DTH.
However, one major still prevails in everyone’s mind. Will it make any impact on the current generation DTH STBs? Yes, it will, only if the rumoured features make it to the final version.
The upcoming Jio STB service is rumoured to be powered by Android and Jio will facilitate outdoor customer premise equipment (CPE), which will be connected to the nearby Jio tower and the wire will be attached to the STB in user’s house. In some areas, Jio is planning to give the wiring via optical fiber cable, instead of CPE.
But the recently leaked pictures suggest that Jio is planning to release the STB with basic features such as Ethernet port, USB port, etc. and nothing fancy.
On the flip side, Airtel’s high-tech hybrid DTH service is also said to work on the same principle. Airtel will use the FTTH cabling service to connect the STBs. These STB’s will allow us to stream content online.
It is also said that both the brands are partnering with digital content services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar to provide the exclusive content. Airtel recently partnered with Netflix, so expect their STB to come preinstalled with Netflix app. Jio has collaboration with India’s Hotstar to provide online content services.
There are no specific details available surrounding the rollout of the service, but if they come with the rumoured features, it will be a game changer in the country.
