Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) held its 47th annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday. During the conference, RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani addressed the stakeholders of the company. Ambani spoke about the advancements the company is making in the fields of 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence, the growth of its telecommunications subsidiary Jio, and more. Reliance also made a host of announcements at the conference, including a new Jio TV OS and several AI-powered services.
Key Announcements Made at RIL AGM
Ambani explained that Reliance was heavily investing in deep-tech with three different strategies. First, the company was embedding new technologies in all of its businesses to keep up with advancements and improve operational efficiency. Second, the company was focusing on incubating critical technological innovations in-house to improve its products and reduce its reliance on third-party companies.
“Third, we have built an AI-native digital infrastructure for all Reliance businesses, and have built our software stack, integrating end-to-end workflows and real-time dashboards,” added Ambani. He also claimed that with its deep-tech integration, RIL can become a top 30 company globally in the near future.
5G and JioAirFiber
Focusing on Jio, Ambani said that the telecom subsidiary has acquired more than 350 patents in 5G and 6G technologies. He also claimed that more than 85 percent of the 5G radio cells operating in India belonged to Jio. The company has also upgraded more than 130 million customers to its True 5G networks.
The company’s JioAirFiber, the 5G-based home broadband service, which was launched last year, is said to have acquired one million customers. The company now plans to expand the service to more than 100 million homes, 20 million small and medium businesses (SME), 1.5 million schools and colleges, and more than 70,000 hospitals.
JioBrain
Ambani also introduced JioBrain, the company’s AI-powered platform which integrates low latency 5G and machine learning (ML) capabilities to build new tools and products. RIL is now embedding JioBrain-powered AI technologies into its processes and offerings and is creating end-to-end workflows.
Jio AI-Cloud Welcome Offer
During the RIL AGM 2024, Ambani also introduced the ‘Jio AI-Cloud Welcome Offer’. With this offer, Jio users will get up to 100 GB of free cloud storage. The Welcome Offer will be launched during Diwali this year.
JioTV+
Akash Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), introduced new offerings for JioTV+. The subscription service offers access to more than 860 live TV channels in HD resolution as well as content from over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar. Ambani further added that the platform has a “super-fast channel switching experience”.
Interestingly, users will be able to access different OTT apps via JioTV+ with a single login. However, the company did not specify whether users will have to log in to the apps separately within JioTV+.
The JioTV+ also features a recommendation engine that can offer personalised suggestions based on the user’s viewing habits. Further, a new feature dubbed Catch-Up TV will let users watch a show on live TV even after it has aired. The feature can go back up to seven days.
JioTV OS and Hello Jio
A new operating system for the Jio Set-Top Box dubbed JioTV OS was introduced during the AGM. Ambani said the new OS offers a faster, smoother, and more personalised experience. It supports ultra-HD 4K video resolution, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. The Chairman of RJIL also said that the operating system will also offer a common interface for different apps, live TV, and shows.
Jio is also introducing upgrades to Hello Jio, the voice assistant for its TV OS. By pressing the microphone button on the Jio remote, users can access the Hello Jio. Now, the company is integrating generative AI into the system to enable natural language understanding.
Ambani says this will make finding content on JioSTB easier than before, as users can make vague requests, and the voice assistant will still be able to comply. Further, the tool can search for content across different OTT platforms and show a single combined list.
The voice assistant can also be activated with commands such as ‘Open Netflix’ or by using the name of a specific movie, show, or music. Additionally, it can also control JioSTB functions such as volume and more.
Another new introduction to JioTV OS is the Jio App Store. Ambani said a large group of developer ecosystem is building new and innovative apps for Jio Home. The platform features a growing catalogue of apps catering to topics such as motion-based fitness, educational content for children, shopping, and more. All of these apps can be accessed via the JioSTB.
JioHome App
Jio also launched a new JioHome app, which integrates the company’s Internet-of-things (IoT) solutions with JioTV OS. The app will act as the personal control centre for all the IoT features, and allow users to manage various devices including Wi-Fi, smart devices, and more with a few taps. It also includes features such as malware detection and guest Wi-Fi management.
JioPhoneCall AI
Another major announcement at the RIL AGM was the JioPhoneCall AI. The service lets users access AI features with every phone call. It can record and store phone calls in Jio Cloud and automatically transcribe it using an in-house algorithm. It can also summarise the call as well as translate it into different languages. Ambani said this will make phone calls searchable and shareable.
Jio users will have a separate, dedicated phone number to PhoneCall AI. Users can add the number to their call (as a conference call). Once done, a welcome message will be played. Post that, users can press “#1” to start recording and transcribing the call. The AI will also give intermittent announcements that the call is being recorded. Users can pause the transcription by pressing #2. To resume, users can press #1. Once the user wants to end transcription and recording, they can press #3.
JioCinema
Ambani also spoke about the growth of JioCinema, Jio’s in-house OTT platform. He claimed that the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was watched by a total of 62 crore users in India, marking a 38 percent increase over the previous seasons. He also added that JioCinema registered 15 million paying subscribers in just 100 days. At present, the platform contains original shows, as well as curated reality shows, movies, and content from HBO, Paramount, and NBCU.