No 5G, No JioBook - A Brief Summary of a Lukewarm Reliance AGM 2021

The speculation around the Reliance AGM 2021 was rife - to put it mildly. People were talking about the event more than three months ago, when the JioBook teaser came out. Leading up to the event, everyone was talking about how Reliance will launch its 5G network, a Jio Smartphone, a JioBook and a lot more. It all sounded too good to be true.

Alas, it was. The only thing Reliance launched was the phone - JioPhone Next. However, it brings us back to the point - Reliance is not Apple, yet. So of course there were not many product launches. Amidst all the numbers and data, Reliance managed to show what Jio had in store for 5G in India. It didn't roll 5G out - subverting more expectations - rather, there was a "watch this space" aura to it all.

No 5G, No Party for Reliance Jio, Yet

As has been mentioned many times on this platform, the consumers had some serious expectations from the telco. The biggest expectation of them all was a commercial 5G rollout, or at least a plan for the same.

Given that the 5G Trials only started last month, it was a hard ask. Yet, Reliance Jio have a mid-band 5G site live in Mumbai, within a month of trials beginning. That is a testament to the telco's 5G-readiness. Also, Jio has repeatedly claimed that it has installed massive MIMO after every spectrum deployment. Massive MIMO is a technology that is pivotal to support the extra volume that 5G requires.

However, at the AGM, Reliance only noted their partnership with Google for 5G. On that regard, Google will embark on a long-term strategic partnership with the US tech giant to maximize Jio's 5G reach. As for when the 5G will roll out, only time will tell.

Well, to be fair, 5G was a long shot, even by Jio's standards. So it is understandable that they have laid out plans for the future, secured key partnerships and have developed a fully-functional 5G stack as well. Already, Jio has partnerships with Qualcomm to manufacture 5G equipment locally, Intel for 5G use cases, and now Google, for 5G cloud networks.

However, this leaves the door open for Airtel to catch up, that have also been hard at work deploying spectrum and massive MIMO wherever possible.

JioPhone Next - The Big (Smart)Phone From Jio

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RIL, announced the rumoured JioPhone Next. The entry-level smartphone comes powered with an extremely-optimized android version, along with the suite of Jio Apps.

According to Google, the phone will support the Play Store as well. That means that the users can access the Play Store and run all the apps available on the marketplace. Pichai also said that JioPhone Next users will get support for the latest Android releases and security updates.

This is very exciting, as Ambani said that Reliance Jio will ensure that JioPhone Next will be the most affordable smartphone not only in India, but across the globe. There have been no release regarding specifications, or the price point. However, multiple reports suggest that the phone will feature entry-level chipsets and hardware.

Jio will start selling the JioPhone Next from 10th September onwards, with evidence suggesting that the phone will go live for pre-booking some time in August, possibly on Independence Day. Reliance does not have the liberty of selling the phone directly at outlets - it has already hit various snags.

Couple that with rising equipment and shipping prices, and going for a pre-booking round and then placing the order is the best strategy here for the company.

JioBook - Is it Coming?

At this point, there are only a handful of people who believe that Jio will make a laptop at that price point happen. However, going back to the original report on Voice&Data, which quotes,

The laptop will pack a SD 665 chip which is a mid ranger from early 2019. The chip is surely old but is capable. JioBook will probably feature a version of Android 10 which will be (rather imaginatively) called JioOS. Though exact screen real estate is unknown, the laptop will have a 1366*768 resolution. Furthermore, the JioBook is understood to come with no Google Apps in a bid to cut costs.

Since Windows 10 is only supported on a few Qualcomm chips on ARM and 665 is not one of them, the device will run Android. The one thing that is interesting is that there are many pre-installed Microsoft Apps, such as Edge, Teams and Office.

The laptop promised to have solid specs, and it even was rumoured to support LTE with a in-built Jio SIM. JioBook was said to have two models. The lower model will have 2 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 32 GB eMMC storage. On the other hand, the upper model will have double the same. When the news first broke, with a leaked image from XDA, many speculated that JioBook will see the light of day on Reliance AGM 2021. Sadly, that didn't come to pass.

The specs look to be solid, but that is about it. There has been no official talk from any of the parties involved. JioBook, therefore, is looking unlikely to come any time soon.

Takeaways From the Reliance AGM 2021

Here are the some of the takeaways from the Reliance AGM 2021, concluded today, from a telecom point of view.

• First, Jio has given itself a very solid footing to climb the 5G mountain. With strategic partnerships in almost all the aspects of a network - Qualcomm for equipment, Intel for use cases and Google Cloud for Cloud Networking and Distribution - Jio's 5G will be a force in Indian Telecom market once it comes out.
• Second, Reliance has shifted its focus away from consumer electronics and is focusing on developing Jio Platforms as a leader in digital tech. JioPhone Next will still send shockwaves around the world - the price point will prove that point - Reliance will still seek to improve the digital front. Digital holds far greater value for the telco than consumer electronics as the latter is not an area it specializes in. Google Cloud partnership will also help Jio take its apps ecosystem to Google's infrastructure.
• Third, Reliance Jio will look to bolster JioFiber as its wireline offering. JioFiber has rapidly gained users over the past few months, both individual and enterprise, and Jio will look to build on that momentum.

All in all, Reliance AGM 2021 subverted many expectations, yet it managed to pique considerable interest. There is a lot to look forward to here, and it's not just the JioPhone Next.