Reliance Jio on Sunday kick-started its much-awaited 4G mobile services at a gala event attended by nearly 35,000 Reliance Group employees and their families. Another 80,000 were tuned in to the event via video links from 1,000-plus locations across the country.

The event, closed to the media, was a precursor to the commercial launch of Reliance Jio’s services in March-April. It was attended by all members of the Ambani family, including Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani, mother Kokilaben Ambani, sons Akash and Anant and daughter Isha. Mukesh’s younger brother, Anil Ambani, was also present at the launch event.

“India is ranked around 150 in the internet and mobile broadband penetration out of 230 countries. Jio is conceived to change this and 1.3 billion Indians cannot be left behind as the world enters a new era. It is this opportunity to transform the lives of our 1.3 billion Indians that motivated Reliance to enter this space,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said while addressing the gathering.

“With the launch of Jio, India’s rank will go up from around 150 to among the top 10 in the next few years for internet and mobile broadband penetration,” he added.

The company is launching the services first for all Reliance Group employees in a bid to make optimal use of human resources to ensure that the last and the slightest wrinkle will be smoothed out before it launches its all-India services.

Quality service

“Nothing is being left to chances. It is a glowing testimony to the company’s commitment to provide consumers with an exhaustively tried and tested, highest quality digital services,” said a company executive on the condition of anonymity.

Another executive termed the launch event as the world’s largest digital townhall. Through two-way video conferencing, running on the Jio network, Mukesh Ambani interacted with employees watching the event from distant places.

“Digital townhalls of large corporates and multinationals usually involve only the top bosses. This is first time a company involved every single employee, from the lowest rung right to the top, and their families in the townhall,” said the executive.

While the event had performances by Oscar-winning music director AR Rahman, Bollywood superstar and Rjio’s brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, market watchers are keenly awaiting more details of the services offered by the company.

The latest entrant to the telecom services space had earlier said it will bring products such as Jio Play which will allow users to watch HD TV anytime, anywhere, on any device.

“What used to take hours for skilled people is just a few clicks on everybody’s mobile. That’s smart. There are many parents and some grandparents in the audience today, and you know that even a three-year-old can use a tablet or a smartphone. And my mother Kokilaben at 83, uses a smartphone better than me. That’s simplicity,” Ambani added.

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