Reliance Jio, a 4G operator, has showcased some of its latest LTE services at Techfest, the annual science and technology festival of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
According a report in Business Standard, Reliance Jio, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL), demonstrated wireless machines that measure blood pressure and record data in the cloud, mobile phone-based urine analysis, etc.
Reliance Jio is expected to launch 4G this year on TD-LTE technology. Though the company received the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in 2010, due to the lack of a strong eco-system for TD-LTE driven 4G services, its launch was delayed.
China Mobile, the largest telecom operator in the world based on mobile subscribers, is expanding 4G on TD-LTE network and is expected to boost LTE initiatives of Indian telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel and Aircel – besides Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Bharti Airtel, Aircel and Reliance Jio will be focusing more enterprise services to boost their 4G revenues.
At Techfest annual event, Reliance Jio Infocomm also showcased entertainment-based services, which included an Android-based set-top box that allows users to view live high-definition TV shows without glitches and breaks. It also has a service called Catch-up TV, wherein one can watch TV shows which are seven days old, Business Standard reported.
“There is no need for recording TV shows. We store seven days of programming on our server, and a user can access it anytime (within seven days),” said an exhibitor at the company’s stall. Jio, which has been procuring entertainment-based content, has around 500 Indian movies and 2,500 episodes of Indian TV shows to be streamed and watched online.
“A user can watch half the show or movie on his or her TV, pause it and watch the rest either on a tablet or a mobile phone, using the same log-in,” said the exhibitor. The company also has a Jio Drive service, where 100 GB of storage on the cloud is offered free to subscribers. This could be used to store videos, documents and pictures, and allows for easy peer-to-peer sharing. This service is available across Windows, Mac and Android operating systems.
Reliance Jio has also displayed its pilot remote healthcare project, which is now restricted to six Reliance Foundation clinics.
The nationwide 4G telecom operator has set up test networks of its 4G connectivity at zones and areas at the IIT campus, to give students a feel of the 4G experience. On a fibee backbone, the speeds were as high as 51 Mbps.
“This is merely to test our networks and get feedback from these young users. Some of the applications were developed in-house,” said a Reliance Jio official.
