Jio to launch 5G services in India in 2021; everything to know in 5 points

Jio 5G service(s) will be launched in India in the second half of 2021, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani said during his keynote presentation at India Mobile Congress 2020 on Tuesday. Jio’s 5G service will be powered by indigenous-developed network, hardware and technology components, Ambani added.

At the same time, Ambani urged the government to take policy steps “to accelerate early rollout of 5G, and to make it affordable and available everywhere.”

Previously, Jio had revealed it had set up core architecture and was ready to switch to 5G as soon as the spectrum auction came around. Here is everything you need to know about Jio 5G.

1. Mukesh Ambani had announced in July that Jio would start testing its homegrown 5G solution as soon as the spectrum was available. The announcement was made during RIL’s 43rd Annual General Meeting.
2. At the Qualcomm 5G Summit in October, Jio had announced the development of its 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) designed to test 5G network at scale.
3. Jio has been working with companies like Samsung and Qualcomm to bring 5G to India.
4. “I assure you that Jio will pioneer the 5G revolution in India in the second half of 2021. It will be powered by indigenous-developed network, hardware and technology components. Jio’s 5G service will be a testimony to your inspiring vision of Atma-Nirbhar Bharat,” Ambani said on Tuesday.
5. Ambani further said that urgent policy steps were needed to ensure underprivileged people in India, those who were still trapped in the 2G era, had access to an affordable smartphone.

Jio had formally announced the launch of Jio 4G services in India in September 2016.

Jio 4G services with free access to unlimited data and voice calls were available to all starting from September 5, up to December 31, 2016. It is too early to comment on how exactly Jio would go about rolling out 5G services in India, and whether, these services would be free for all like Jio 4G, but Tuesday’s announcement is crucial because until now, 5G was a distant pipe dream. Now we have a tentative timeline as to when we can expect 5G in India. Whether or not Jio is able to stick to this timeframe is something that only time would tell.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Limited is also simultaneously working with Google on low-cost smartphones running a localised version of Android software. Though concrete details are still unknown, Ambani had talked about 4G, even 5G smartphones costing a fraction of their current cost with deep emphasis on a value-engineered smartphone operating system designed specifically for the Indian market during RIL’s 43rd AGM.