It is an ongoing rumor in the industry that
Reliance Jio Infocomm is planning to launch
4G services by the end of this year and that it
might be going for a big bang approach. The
recent in the series of rumors is that post its
acquisition of the Network 18 Group, RJio
might offer mobile video either for free or at a
miniscule price. (See: RJio Underscores
Content's Big 4G Role With Network 18 Deal .)
Reliance Jio is the only pan-India owner of
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.
The company also acquired 1800 MHz
spectrum in 14 circles in the recently
concluded auctions. As of now, only Bharti
Airtel is offering 4G services in select cities.
Many believe that with the launch of high-
speed networks the usage of mobile video
would take off in a big way. However, there
also are concerns regarding this.
To begin with the experience of customers
using mobile video on 3G network is far from
being great. A recent survey conducted by
Skyfire, a subsidiary of Opera Software,
showed that nearly 56 percent of Indian video
consumers on 3G networks suffer from
significant stalling and re-buffering. Nearly 83
percent of the subscribers face stalling while
trying to watch video. The study further
reports that almost 40 percent of all video
streams ran at bitrates of less than 300 kbps,
which is a very low speed for video playback
on mobile devices. (See: Telcos Gearing Up For
3G Network Expansion .)
At the same time, studies have also pointed
out that there certainly is a market for mobile
video in the country. This is reflected in the
findings of Cisco's 2013 Visual Networking
Index, which says that nearly 60 percent of the
growth in mobile data would be coming from
mobile video alone.
This also implies that the stage would be
reasonably set for a 4G player that could offer
competively priced content to feed the hunger
of subscribers ready to consume mobile video.
The relative failure of 3G telcos on the mobile
video front could actually turn out to be a
blessing in disguise for a greenfield 4G telco
like RJio. The 3G service providers seem to
have created a market and raised the
awareness but have failed short of capitalizing
the true potential of mobile video services. A
key reason for this is that often the TDM-based
networks make it difficult to scale up to the
new transmission needs in the wake of services
like mobile video. Mostly, the telcos have only
recently started to focus on network upgrades.
This is not to say that it's going to be a
cakewalk for Reliance Jio. The price of the
access devices still remains a concern area.
The company would need to offer reasonably
priced 4G devices to capitalize on this
segment. Experts believe that reasonably-
priced and interoperable 4G devices are likely
to be available in the market by early 2015.
(Also see: After Infra Deals RJio Focuses on
Devices.)
The company would also have to face
competition from cable TV players like Tata Sky
and Dish TV. Both these companies have
recently started offering television on the go,
which would be in direct competition with any
telco offering mobile video. Also, these would
work on any smartphone while to avail RJio's
services the subscriber would need to purchase
the 4G device.
Dish TV recently launched its online service
DishOnline, which provides TV to subscribers
via Android- and iOS-based smartphones,
tablets and laptops.
—Gagandeep Sodhi, Editor, Light Reading
India
Reliance Jio Infocomm is planning to launch
4G services by the end of this year and that it
might be going for a big bang approach. The
recent in the series of rumors is that post its
acquisition of the Network 18 Group, RJio
might offer mobile video either for free or at a
miniscule price. (See: RJio Underscores
Content's Big 4G Role With Network 18 Deal .)
Reliance Jio is the only pan-India owner of
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.
The company also acquired 1800 MHz
spectrum in 14 circles in the recently
concluded auctions. As of now, only Bharti
Airtel is offering 4G services in select cities.
Many believe that with the launch of high-
speed networks the usage of mobile video
would take off in a big way. However, there
also are concerns regarding this.
To begin with the experience of customers
using mobile video on 3G network is far from
being great. A recent survey conducted by
Skyfire, a subsidiary of Opera Software,
showed that nearly 56 percent of Indian video
consumers on 3G networks suffer from
significant stalling and re-buffering. Nearly 83
percent of the subscribers face stalling while
trying to watch video. The study further
reports that almost 40 percent of all video
streams ran at bitrates of less than 300 kbps,
which is a very low speed for video playback
on mobile devices. (See: Telcos Gearing Up For
3G Network Expansion .)
At the same time, studies have also pointed
out that there certainly is a market for mobile
video in the country. This is reflected in the
findings of Cisco's 2013 Visual Networking
Index, which says that nearly 60 percent of the
growth in mobile data would be coming from
mobile video alone.
This also implies that the stage would be
reasonably set for a 4G player that could offer
competively priced content to feed the hunger
of subscribers ready to consume mobile video.
The relative failure of 3G telcos on the mobile
video front could actually turn out to be a
blessing in disguise for a greenfield 4G telco
like RJio. The 3G service providers seem to
have created a market and raised the
awareness but have failed short of capitalizing
the true potential of mobile video services. A
key reason for this is that often the TDM-based
networks make it difficult to scale up to the
new transmission needs in the wake of services
like mobile video. Mostly, the telcos have only
recently started to focus on network upgrades.
This is not to say that it's going to be a
cakewalk for Reliance Jio. The price of the
access devices still remains a concern area.
The company would need to offer reasonably
priced 4G devices to capitalize on this
segment. Experts believe that reasonably-
priced and interoperable 4G devices are likely
to be available in the market by early 2015.
(Also see: After Infra Deals RJio Focuses on
Devices.)
The company would also have to face
competition from cable TV players like Tata Sky
and Dish TV. Both these companies have
recently started offering television on the go,
which would be in direct competition with any
telco offering mobile video. Also, these would
work on any smartphone while to avail RJio's
services the subscriber would need to purchase
the 4G device.
Dish TV recently launched its online service
DishOnline, which provides TV to subscribers
via Android- and iOS-based smartphones,
tablets and laptops.
—Gagandeep Sodhi, Editor, Light Reading
India
