Reliance AGM 2021: Ambani announces launch of JioPhone Next smartphone, partnership with Google for 5G

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani on Thursday announced the launch of JioPhone Next, a fully-featured smartphone being developed in partnership with Google.

"JioPhone Next is one of the most affordable smartphones globally which has cutting-edge technology," he said while addressing the company's 44th annual general meeting held virtually.

"Despite Covid, Jio sustained its track record of its robust performance and became the first operator outside China to cross 400 million subscribers in a single country," said Ambani.

Jio handled at one point a monthly traffic of over 6 billion GB a month and is the world's second-largest mobile data carrier, he said.

"During recent spectrum auctions, we have invested Rs 57,123 crore to acquire significant additional spectrum, making Jio the largest operator of 4G spectrum in India. We have operationalised nearly 100 per cent of this additional spectrum," said Ambani.

Speaking about the new smartphone, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said that it is built for India and will open up new possibilities for millions of new users who will experience the internet for the first time.

He announced a new 5G partnership between Google Cloud and Jio that seeks to aid more than a billion Indians connect to faster internet, support businesses in digital transformation and lay the foundation for the next phase of India's digitisation.

"We are proud to play a part in India's next wave of technological innovation. Helping to connect 1.3 billion Indians to the opportunities the internet creates is meaningful to us at Google -- and certainly to me personally," said Pichai.

(ANI)

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