Reliance Industries Limited's (RIL) telecom & digital arm Reliance Jio Infocomm, which recently confirmed that it will commence commercial operations by December this year, finally saw some activity in 2015, launching a chat service and rolling out WiFi on a pilot basis at some locations. A lowdown on highlights from Jio in 2014-15: Financials Jio reported operating revenues of Rs 415 crore for FY15, down 24% from Rs 546 crore operating revenues in FY14. The company's "Other revenues" stood at Rs 42 crore for FY15, down 12.5% from Rs 48 crore in FY14. Other financial highlights: - In FY15, RIL loaned Reliance Jio Infocomm Rs 5076 crore. As of March 31, 2015, the total amount loaned to Jio is Rs 16,813 crore. - Reliance Jio Infocomm's net assets are worth Rs 30,074 crore (as of March 31, 2015). - Reliance Jio Infocomm has debt of Rs 22,305 crore. Key deployments - Jio Chat: Earlier this year in April, Reliance Jio launched its first product: a mobile messaging app with voice and video calling features called Jio Chat, which is available for Android and iOS devices. Jio Chat offers instant messaging, voice & video calling, one-to-one & group chats, conference calling, stickers and will even feature updates and offers from the user’s favourite brands. Jio Chat seems to have been inspired by the Japanese mobile messaging and calling app LINE a lot. Just like LINE, Jio Chat features Jio Chat Channels, that brands and most probably celebrities will be able to use to connect with users.…
