Reliance Jio (RJIL) is likely to delay its commercial 4G launch to April next year, contrary to the company’s previous statement that it would launch by the end of this year. According to a filing by on the company on BSE (pdf), "Financial year 2016-17 is projected to be the first year of commercial operations for RJIL". In June, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, said in his speech that Jio would roll out its complete commercial operations by December this year. He said that the company would roll out internet services on their beta program which would involve “millions of customers” across the country. “I am glad to announce that financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations for Jio”, he said then. Reliance Jio has missed BWA rollout obligations, but so have others Interestingly, BWA rollout obligations technically kicked in last month, in September 2015, 5 years after the original auctions. All telecom operators which are BWA licensees were required to have street level coverage in at least 90% of the metro service areas and at least 50% of the rural short distance changing areas (SDCAs), failing which the operators are liable to face penalties. If the delay is true, RJIL will miss the deadline comfortably by around six months, its umpteenth delay before launching Jio. The company has been talking about a 4G rollout since 2013 without revealing any concrete details about it. In December last year, the company launched a preview website that went…
