Reliance Jio Infocomm at its AGM on Thursday had unveiled plans to roll out a broadband services optical fibre network across 1,100 cities. This will be one of the largest greenfield broadband networks in the world based on optical fibre.

RJio is likely to bundle offerings across broadband, internet-based set-top box for television and voice telephony.

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Goldman Sachs analysts say lack of clarity on exact launch timeline and tariffs of fixed-line services could suggest limited near-term impact on home broadband/DTH players. “Unlike the previous two AGMs of RIL, we believe the overall impact of this year's announcements are likely to be less severe for telcos vs prior years,” they say.

Jefferies says that for Jio to expand the market for JioFiber, pricing will need to be aggressive and “roll-out will likely be gradual as last mile connection takes time”.

CLSA says amid renewed risks of subscriber churn, Bharti Airtel's ability to drive adoption of data will be key to its ARPU recovery; Vodafone-Idea Cellular Ltd also face similar risks.

Reliance Industries shares were up 1.6 per cent, while Airtel down 0.7 per cent and Idea Cellular up 0.8 per cent. Rival broadband providers tanked for second session with Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd down 8.5 per cent and DEN Networks Ltd down 6.2 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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