In the later stage the company has also decided to give fibers for homes and offices

Reliance Jio to provide 4G Wi-Fi through Street Lights

Details of the proposal

Reliance Jio had given a proposal to BEST to let it hire spaces on the street poles. The proposal states that M/s Reliance JioInfocomm Limited wants to install the equipment on electric poles of BEST's undertaking to provide 4G communication to the masses. The equipment consists of small cell of 4G long term evaluation, a sandwich box, unlicensed band radio, integrated kiosks and outdoor Wi-Fi apps.

The pilot project will consist of installation of equipment over 215 lamp posts in Mumbai's ‘D' ward. The people will later be able to get better 4G services. Initially, the equipment will be positioned on 25 poles. From these, Reliance Jio will test the availability and performance of the 4G services.

If the kiosks are not installed on the lamp posts then BEST will get a yearly rent of Rs. 1.5 lakh from every light pole. After the kiosks are in place, the annual rent will be Rs. 60,000 per lamp post.

The standing committee of BEST will decide on the approval of the proposal.

Reliance Jio's plans for 4G

Reliance Jio has planned to launch the 4G long term evolution services in around 800 cities. It has set the deadline between April and June for itself.

The company will be giving 4G dongles and mi-fi devices which will let consumers to use 4G from any phone that has Wi-Fi feature. A single mi-fi device may be used by 10 handsets at a time. The dongles will offer a speed of 16-18 mbps on an average. This speed is almost three times the speed offered in its 3G dongles.

Reliance Jio built more than 30,000 new towers and leased some more to give enhanced services. It conducted field trials of the services in varied cities and towns. It will take feedbacks from this trial to overcome the shortcomings. The company feels this step is very necessary before rolling out the services in full-fledge.

Reliance Jio is already placing cables all over the city to give out 4G services. In the later stage, the company has also decided to give fibers for homes and offices. These fibers will be able to generate speed as high as 100 mbps and will be able to run television programs as well.

In August, 2010, Reliance Jio acquired pan-India 2,300 MHz spectrum in 22 areas. This spectrum is most likely to be used for its 4G services. Operating in homes and offices had some limitations with this band. As they form the largest section of the consumers, Reliance Jio bought the 1,800 MHz spectrum in 14 regions, in February, 2015. The company will use this spectrum to offer both data and voice services.