RIL’s 41st AGM: RIL Announces JioGigaFiber, JioPhone 2; Stock Falls

The 41st annual general meeting of Reliance Industries saw the launch of broadband services business JioGigaFiber and a higher-end feature phone - JioPhone 2. The stock which was up at least 1.25 percent before the AGM, is now trading in the red.

Here are the key highlights from the RIL AGM:

• Reliance Jio has 215 million customers within just 22-months
• It has more than 25 million JioPhone users
• JioPhone 2 will have horizontal screen and full keyboard
• YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook services will be available to JioPhone users from August 15
• Customers can exchange existing feature phones for JioPhones for Rs 501 starting July 21
• Existing JioPhone scheme will continue
• Effective entry cost of JioPhone reduced to Rs 501 from Rs 1,500
• JioPhone 2 will be available at an introductory price of Rs 2,999
• Targets 100 million JioPhone users

• RIL will further maximise oil to chemical upgradation
• Will upgrade all of our fuels to high-value petrochemicals
• Hydrocarbon business is poised for robust value creation
• Continue to pursue to development in KG Basin with joint venture partner British Petroleum
• RIL targets 30-35 million cubic meters gas production from KG-D6 by 2022

• RIL is second largest paraxylene producer in the world
• RIL adding composites, carbon fiber to portfolio
• Butyl rubber unit will be commissioned soon
• RIL is now largest recycler of PET bottles in India

Mukesh Ambani said that RIL’s platform business strategy would unlock three "large opportunities" - agriculture, education, and healthcare.

• India has an unprecedented opportunity to create wealth and new knowledge-rich livelihood opportunities in rural areas

• Jio will connect 58,000 colleges and universities and 1.9 million schools in less than 2 years
• These educational institutions collectively provide education to nearly 200 million children
• Jio will attempt to help overcome the deficit of physical infrastructure in healthcare

Reliance Industries envisions a hybrid online-offline e-commerce platform which will integrate the “power of Reliance Retail & Reliance Jio”, he said. Calling it the Bharat-India Jodo program, he said the hybrid platform will give customers the best value for money.

Users can register for JioGigafiber starting Aug. 15, said Ambani.

• Will prioritise JioGigaFiber rollout to those localities from where there are highest number of registrations
• Will roll out JioGigafiber in 1,100 centres simultaneously

Customers will now be able to exchange their feature phones for JioPhones for Rs 501, starting July 21, said Mukesh Ambani today.

• Customers can exchange existing feature phones for JioPhones for Rs 501 starting July 21
• Existing Jiophone scheme will continue
• Effective entry cost of JioPhone reduced to Rs 501 from Rs 1,500
• JioPhone 2 will be available at an introductory price of Rs 2,999
• YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook services will be available to JioPhone users from Aug. 15

Shares of cable TV service providers fell as Reliance announced the launch of JioGigaFiber.

• Hathway Cable fell 4.13 percent
• Den Networks down 5.4 percent
• Dish TV down 0.4 percent
• SITI networks down 2.9 percent

• Router will give wall-to-wall high-speed WiFi coverage
• Set-top box will also be clubbed with JioGigaFiber
• Jio remote will also be voice activated; will accept multiple Indian languages

The company launched JioPhone 2 which comes with a horizontal screen feature and a full keyboard. Both the JioPhone and JioPhone 2 will be available in the market going forward, Isha Ambani said.

Akash And Isha Ambani demonstrated the JioPhone’s performance, comparing user experience of applications such as YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp to other android phones.

Ambani announced a new service called the JioGigaFiber. “We will now use fiber connectivity to provide fixed broadband connectivity,” the Chairman said.

• Jio to extend fiber connectivity to homes, small and medium enterprises
• Will roll out broadband connectivity services in 1,100 cities

Reliance Infocomm Ltd.’s Reliance Jio has witnessed “unprecedented growth”, doubling its users to 215 million customers in the last one year, Ambani said.

• Doubled customer base to 215 million customers
• Data usage has grown to 240 crore GBs per month From 125 crore GBs
• Voice usage on the network hit 530 crore minutes per day from 250 crore minutes per day.
• Video consumption reached 340 crore hours per month from 165 crore hours per month.
• Customers actively engaged for 290 minutes per day on average

The company has entered into its "golden decade” backed by Reliance Jio and its consumer business, said Ambani.

• RIL is one year into its "golden decade"
• New age consumer businesses have started delivering profits.
• Our hydrocarbon and consumer businesses have helped RIL scale greater heights than ever before
• RIL's earning profile has undergone a fundamental change
• RIL has reached an inflection point
• Our consumer businesses will contribute as much to overall earnings as petrochem business

Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani has arrived at the venue of the 41st RIL AGM with his wife, Neeta Ambani and son Akash Ambani, who is also a director of Reliance Jio. Awaiting them, is a hall full of shareholders and media personnel.

Here’s how the stock has performed on the days of its annual general meeting, over the last 12 years. RIL is currently trading 1.25 percent higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange at Rs 1002 per share.

The company’s last annual general meeting saw the introduction of the 4G-enabled feature phone—JioPhone. The gadget has since become the top-selling feature phone in India, grabbing 26 percent of the feature phone market on its compelling value proposition when compared to a normal 2G feature phone.

Ambani had also announced his aim for the year, saying “Jio will cover over 99 percent of the country’s population in the next one year”.

As of now, Reliance Jio is the largest telecom operator in India after Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone India and Idea cellular. It has made huge inroads in India’s rural market.

Here’s a snapshot of the announcements made last year.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. will hold the company’s 41st annual general meeting, starting 11 a.m. where its board members are expected to talk about the company’s past performance and future endeavours.

The stock has risen 39.1 percent over the past year compared to a 15.5 percent rise in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. It trades at a 13.8 times estimated forward earning versus 8.9 times for comparable companies.