New technology LiFi to offer 100 times faster speed than WiFi

A new technology, known as LiFi, could one day offer internet speeds one hundred times faster than the WiFi we use today. Scientists have achieved speeds in the lab of up to 224 GB per second. That's the equivalent of downloading 18 movies in the blink of an eye. LiFi, or light fidelity, is now moving to trials in the real world, with office tests in Tallin, Estonia achieving speeds of 1 GB per second, 100 times the speed of traditional WiFi.

The world's ever­growing desire for more data at faster rates is pushing WiFi's capacity to its limits. WiFi is achieved by transmitting data through radio waves, but can only transfer so much at a time. By 2019, it is estimated that the world will be exchanging roughly 35 quintillion bytes of information each month. Because radio frequencies are already in use and heavily regulated, that data is going to struggle to find a spot in line. WiFi is simply running out of space .




Capacity is only part of the problem. WiFi is not a terribly efficient solution. The base stations responsible for transmitting radio waves only function at about 5 per cent efficiency, most of the energy being used to cool the stations. For those transmitting sensitive data, security is also a problem, as radio waves travel through solid objects such as walls and doors. Like radio waves, visible light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The difference is that viable light has a spectrum 10,000 times larger than radio waves.

This means LiFi has the potential for enormous capacity. Instead of transmitting information via one data stream, visible light would make it possible to transmit the same information using thousands of data streams simultaneously. LiFi works by flashing LED lights on and off at incredibly fast speeds, sending data to a receiver in binary code. It's essentially an ultra­fast version of turning your flashlight on and off to create morse code. The flashes occur so fast that they are not seen by the naked eye. All one need to do is fit a small microchip to every potential illumination device and this would then combine two basic functionalities — illumination and wireless data transmission. In In other words, the infrastructure is already there. We can use the LED bulbs we already have, with some tweaking.

Source: ET

Reliance Jio's entry seen increasing competition in telecom, lowering data tarrifs

The impending entry of Reliance Jio will increase competition in the Indian telecom sector and pressure credit profiles of the top-four telecom companies, Fitch Ratings has said.

In order to be competitive and grab chunk of the market share, Jio is likely to offer cheaper tariffs; Fitch expects that data tarrifs will fall by at least 15-20% as incumbents compete on price with Jio. Cheaper tariffs will help the company build market share and voice average revenue per user (ARPU) will decline on lower usage as rising data usage will cannibalise voice.

"We expect competition to intensify as Reliance Jio, part of Reliance Industries, enters the market with likely cheaper and faster data-focused tariff plans armed with sufficient spectrum and access to funds," said Fitch Ratings.

The agency added it expects the 2016 credit profiles of the top-four Indian telcos to come under pressure amid tougher competition, larger capex requirements and debt funded M&A.

Fitch Ratings though retained the rating outlook on the sector as ''stable''.
"We expect blended monthly ARPU to fall by 5-6% to around Rs 160 (2015: Rs 170) due to a decline in data tariffs, which will more than offset the rise in data usage," it said.
Fitch said it expects the incumbent telcos to offer discounts and promotions to higher-ARPU subscribers in anticipation of Jio's entry to prevent user attrition.

Jio is likely to launch its cheaper and faster 4G-focussed data services in Q1 of 2016 having invested about $14 billion partly to acquire 800 MHz spectrum in 10 circles and higher-bandwidth spectrum of 2300MHz/ 1800MHz in 22 circles.

It expects industry revenue to grow by low single-digits (2015: 9%), driven solely by data services as voice matures and subscriber growth slows.

"Data's contribution to revenue will rise to around 25-27% (2015: 18-20%) as data traffic will double - aided by the proliferation of cheaper smartphones, lower data tariffs and improving content availability," it said.

The top four telcos' average operating Ebitda margin will narrow by 100-200bps (2015: 35%) due to pricing pressure on the higher-margin data services and a rise in marketing spend as data competition rises, Fitch Ratings said.

The ratings agency said 2016 industry capex/revenue could rise to 19-20% (2015: 18%) as companies invest to meet the challenges of fast-growing data traffic and a new competitor in Jio. "We also expect telcos to invest to improve voice call quality," it added.

Source: First Post

First look and feel of Reliance Jio’s 4G VoLTE service with speed test

As December approaches, the anticipation of Reliance Jio’s commercial launch starts to heat up. Like every year around this time of the year subscribers become more hopeful and optimistic about the launch of an operator which has been predicted to grossly change the dynamics of the Indian telecom industry. But unlike the yesteryears this year has seen an official announcement by Jio about commercial launch at least in key markets by December 2015.

We thought it would be best to give our readers an exclusive first look at Jio 4G service running on LG Spirit LTE handset which has just been launched in India by LG through an exclusive partnership with Reliance retail. As you can see in the status bar just to the left of the network signal bars is a symbol indicating VoLTE which shows that Jio network is VoLTE capable to support HD voice quality and the phone also supports VoWifi which is another cool feature which will be deployed by Jio where an ongoing call will seamlessly switch over from LTE network outdoors to Wifi network indoors as and when it is available. VoWifi also ensures connectivity in tricky areas like offices in basements where there is no cellphone network coverage but has a wifi network setup.

As you can see in the screenshots, the download speeds ranged from 34.43 to 35.52 Mbps while the upload speeds ranged from 6.88 to 7.01 Mbps and latency ranged between 61 to 62 milliseconds. The speed test results were pretty impressive but then again at this point Jio’s towers are not crowded by subscribers and the actual picture may change after commercial launch when the contention ratio changes.

Source: Telecom Talk

Reliance Jio to offer TV content on any device, anytime

If you are fussy about not missing your daily fix of TV soap opera, you may have reason to cheer. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd, which is scheduled to roll out its 4G cellular network soon, will also offer television on demand on its network.

Jio, through its subsidiary Reliance Jio Media Pvt Ltd, has got a multi-service operator (MSO) licence, and the Jio service will let you view TV programmes any place, any time, with control of content on your remote. No more missing your favourite programme, no more recording on your set-top box.

“Jio will bring true digitisation and a transformation of the current television viewing experience, and mark a shift in the controls from the broadcaster to the hand of the consumer,” Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries Ltd, said at the recently held 41st AGM of the company.

As an MSO, Jio will become a TV channel distributor in addition to a telecom operator. The timing could not have been better, as sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is set to begin online registration of local cable operators (LCOs). “Where LCOs are not available, RJio Media can become an LCO,” sources who were consulted by RJio on its MSO roll out strategy, told HT.

An MSO is a cable operator who gets programming services from a broadcaster, and under a revenue sharing agreement, transmits them to subscribers directly or through an LCO.

Reliance Jio did not respond to queries for this report. According to a senior Trai official, “The strategy for converged play is going to be critical to capture this market. Broadcasting … with a broadband strategy is going to be the future for players in the market.”

Competitors in the MSO space include Hathway, Digi Cable Network and DEN Satellite.
Reacting to queries, Hathway’s GM (marketing and communications) Akhil Rampal said, “The market is so diverse that everyone has a big opportunity to tap, be it platforms or even channels… Hathway, the largest MSO (in India), is seeing this as a big opportunity not only from a digital Cable TV perspective but also from a Broadband POV and increasing penetration for this business.”

Source: Hindustan Times

Reliance Jio to offer TV content on any device, anytime

If you are fussy about not missing your daily fix of TV soap opera, you may have reason to cheer. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd, which is scheduled to roll out its 4G cellular network soon, will also offer television on demand on its network.

Jio, through its subsidiary Reliance Jio Media Pvt Ltd, has got a multi-service operator (MSO) licence, and the Jio service will let you view TV programmes any place, any time, with control of content on your remote. No more missing your favourite programme, no more recording on your set-top box.

“Jio will bring true digitisation and a transformation of the current television viewing experience, and mark a shift in the controls from the broadcaster to the hand of the consumer,” Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries Ltd, said at the recently held 41st AGM of the company.
As an MSO, Jio will become a TV channel distributor in addition to a telecom operator. The timing could not have been better, as sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is set to begin online registration of local cable operators (LCOs). “Where LCOs are not available, RJio Media can become an LCO,” sources who were consulted by RJio on its MSO roll out strategy, told HT.

An MSO is a cable operator who gets programming services from a broadcaster, and under a revenue sharing agreement, transmits them to subscribers directly or through an LCO.
Reliance Jio did not respond to queries for this report.

According to a senior Trai official, “The strategy for converged play is going to be critical to capture this market. Broadcasting … with a broadband strategy is going to be the future for players in the market.”

Competitors in the MSO space include Hathway, Digi Cable Network and DEN Satellite.
Reacting to queries, Hathway’s GM (marketing and communications) Akhil Rampal said, “The market is so diverse that everyone has a big opportunity to tap, be it platforms or even channels… Hathway, the largest MSO (in India), is seeing this as a big opportunity not only from a digital Cable TV perspective but also from a Broadband POV and increasing penetration for this business.”

Source: Hindutan Times

Reliance Jio to be the leading 4G player by 2019-2020: Report

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm will be leading the country’s 4G LTE market with 40 percent market share by 2019-2020, while the share of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular will reach 60 percent by 2019-20, up from 53 percent in 2016-17, a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

The brokerage firm however said that Jio may find it difficult to poach high-end subscribers from Airtel, Idea and Vodafone if it further delays the launch of 4G services in the country. Jio has already delayed its commercial 4G launch to early next financial year from December this year.

The brokerage firm said that Jio would need to focus on offering a differentiated service as aggressive pricing alone would not be able to help the telco gain a sustainable advantage.

Reliance Jio holds the highest amount of liberalised spectrum among telecom operators which can be used for deploying any technology for mobile services. It has a total of 751.1 MHz spectrum across 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz bands, and plans to provide seamless 4G services using LTE in 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz bands through an integrated ecosystem.

Jio recently filed intimation for sharing of spectrum in the 800MHz band with RCom across seven circles to telecom department (DoT).

The Indian 4G subscriber base is estimated to reach 90 million by 2017-18, while the 4G smartphone base will jump from 5 million in 2015-16 to 180 million by 2017-18, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said, adding that there will be a faster acceleration towards 4G with a large proportion of 2G subscribers leapfrogging 3G to move to 4G.

The brokerage firm expects 4G net additions to be faster than 3G net additions by 2018-19. “3G subs to be largely restricted in areas where 4G coverage is limited,” the firm said.

Source: Telecom Talk

Reliance Jio to expand mobile broadband service in Punjab

Indian operator Reliance Jio plans to provide full mobile broadband connectivity in the state of Punjab, ET reports, citing Mukesh Ambani, owner of Reliance Industries (RIL), Reliance Jio's parent company. "We will commit to all the additional resources it takes so that Punjab will be the first state in India where every single village which will be covered with mobile broadband connectivity", Ambani said. Ambani also said that his company has already invested over INR 39 billion in Punjab. Ambani did not give an exact date when all of the state's villages will be connected with 4G services.

Source: telecompaper.com