New Delhi: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Thursday said as the world steps into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, India has the opportunity to not just to catch up with the leaders but to emerge as a global leader itself.
While speaking at TM Forum's Digital Transformation World Series 2020 virtual conference, Ambani said India missed out on the first two industrial revolutions and the changes brought about by them.
"During the Third Industrial Revolution, where information technology came to prominence, India joined the race but still remained behind, trying to catch up with the leaders. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driven by the convergence of digital and physical technologies such as digital connectivity, Cloud and Edge computing, IoT and smart devices, artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, AR/VR and genomics," said the richest Indian.
The three foundational requirements needed to participate in this revolution are ultra-high-speed connectivity, affordable smart devices and transformational digital applications and solutions, which Jio aims to facilitate, he said.
"Before Jio, India was stuck with 2G technology and Jio wanted to end India’s data misery and unleash a digital revolution. We built a world-class, all-IP, future-proof digital network that delivers the highest speeds and the best coverage across India. While it took 25 years for the Indian telecom industry to build its 2G network, Jio built its 4G network only in three years. And to ensure widespread adoption of data, we launched with the lowest data tariffs in the world and made voice services completely free for Jio users," said Ambani about RIL's telecom arm, which has drawn more than $20 billion in investments.
"Before Jio over half a billion Indians were left out of the digital movement because they couldn’t afford smartphones and had to make do with 2G feature phones. Our young and talented Jio engineers rose to the challenge of designing the world’s ultra-affordable breakthrough device called the JioPhone. That provided a window to the world of limitless possibilities for over 100 million Indians in less than a year," Ambani further said.
"Adding customers at a mind-boggling rate of seven customers every second, Jio garnered 100 million customers in just 170 days of its launch. And India’s monthly consumption went up from 0.2 billion GB to 1.2 billion GB a growth of 600%and data consumption has been multiplying ever since," said Ambani
He said India today consumes over 6 exabytes of data every month, more than 30 times pre-Jio levels, just four years ago and that within four years India has just four years.
Ambani said Jio is now rolling out a high-speed, low-latency optic fiber network to more than 50 million homes and premises across 2000 towns and cities in India and is simultaneously preparing for rolling out 5G services across India.
And Jio Platforms, our digital solutions arm with its growing portfolio of over 20 start-up has built significant capabilities in areas like Cloud and Edge Computing, Big Data Analytics, AI & Machine Learning, Blockchain, AR/ VR and IoT.
Jio Platforms is in the process of creating compelling solutions for multiple industry verticals and ecosystems spanning telecom, media and entertainment, new commerce, financial services, education, healthcare and agriculture.
"We believe that these will have a transformative effect on the social, economic and full development of India. This is just the beginning for India. Each of these solutions, once perfected in India and proven at India-scale will be well positioned to address similar needs in other parts of the world," said Ambani.
"The Fourth Industrial Revolution has presented us a unique opportunity to create unprecedented value and prosperity for everyone in all spheres of life. We must invest in building next-generation technology assets," said Ambani.
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