Reliance Jio Media has applied for a pan India cable MSO (Multi-System Operator) license in order to foray into broadcast distribution business. It is expected that the company will receive a pan India MSO license in FY 2014-15. Reliance Jiois the only company to have pan-India Broadband Wireless Access spectrum that can be used for 4G services.
Reliance Jio Media is a subsidiary of Reliance JioInfocomm (the telecom arm of Reliance Industries), started in January, 2013 and located in Mumbai.
What is MSO?
MSO stands for Multi-System Operator. It is a cable operator who receives programming services from a broadcaster. It also transmits them for simultaneous reception either to multiple subscribers directly or through one or more local cable operators.
This license will help Reliance Jio to offer cable TV services through optical fiber, thereby providing triple play service. The existing large MSOs in the country areHathway, Siti Cable, IN cable, DEN and others. The license will enable Reliance to compete with them.
Preparations of Reliance Jio
Reliance Jio has decided to give 4G services across most of the telecom circles by March, 2015. The Mukesh Ambani flagship already announced that it will launch commercial 4G telecom service in 2015, entailing investment of Rs 70,000 crores. The company plans to cover about 5,000 towns and cities, initially.This will account for more than 90 percent of urban India. Additionally, it will also cover 215,000 villages.
The firm, earlier demonstrated download speeds of 49 megabit per second (Mbps) on its 4G network at IIT, Mumbai. With this speed, a user can download a normal bollywood movie in about 2 minutes. Reliance Jioalso showcased a ‘Jio Television’ that can be delivered through 4G network.
What the company has already acquired?
Reliance Jio is focusing on convergence space. After acquiring Broadband Wireless Access spectrum in 2010, it bagged ISP (Internet Service Provider) license through acquisition of Infotel Broadband Services.Reliance is seeking to focus on all types of broadband services pan India as all these services will help it to offer broadband services through wireless, wirelineand cable TV media.
Reliance Jioholds Unified License (UL), acquired in October, last year. This enables it to use any technology to provide telecom services. With it, the company can offer Fiber-To-The-Home services and high speed broadband services to home and enterprise users. It had to pay a sum of Rs. 1,658 crores which is the requisite amount internet service providers holding wireless broadband airwaves pay for offering voice services.
In February 2014, it also acquired airwaves in 1800 MHz band across 14 out of 22 service areas in the country. The spectrum in this band can also be used for providing 4G services.
Reliance JioInfocomm
Mumbai based Reliance Jio is headed by MukeshAmbani. The company has acquired permits to offer high speed 4G data and voice services across the country. It is gearing up to launch its 4G wireless services in 2015 through airwaves in the 2.3 GHz band.