Google expanded its partnership with Reliance Jio on Thursday, announcing a “ultra-affordable” smartphone that could connect hundreds of millions of customers to high-speed mobile data, as well as a cloud partnership to support the Indian telecoms firm’s 5G push. The ‘JioPhone Next’ has been developed for the Indian market by Alphabet’s Google and Jio, according to Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, of which Jio is a part.
Ambani, one of the world’s richest men, wants to expand Jio’s tech, telecommunications, and entertainment services with the launch of the new phone in September. With approximately 530 million smartphone users, India is the world’s second-largest mobile market, but more than 300 million people still use legacy feature phones, according to Hong Kong-based tech consultancy Counterpoint Research. It also provides Google with the unrivaled scale of Reliance, whose businesses range from oil to telecommunications and e-commerce.
Google, which last year invested $4.5 billion in Jio’s parent Jio Platforms, also said it would help India’s biggest wireless carrier with tech solutions for its enterprise and consumer offerings as it plans to launch 5G services. The collaboration provides Jio with the expertise of a global tech behemoth as it expands digital services to small and medium-sized businesses as well as hundreds of millions of people.
Jio shook up India’s telecom market in 2016 when it introduced low-cost data plans and free voice services. It drove several competitors out of the market and has since grown to become India’s largest mobile carrier, with over 425 million customers. On Thursday, Ambani stated that Jio, which is backed by Facebook, Qualcomm, and Intel, is confident of being the first to launch 5G services in India.
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