Extended quotes from the speech by Mukesh Ambani, Chairman Reliance Industries at the company's annual general meeting today, September 1 2016,  outlining his vision for Digital India and the role he sees for the new   mobile telecom service offering Reliance Jio:
The world is at the beginning of a digital revolution. Anything and everything that can go digital is going digital – at an exponential rate. Faster than you and I can imagine.Whether it is manufacturing, commerce, healthcare, education, entertainment – life is going Digital. Through the ages, information and knowledge have driven humanity's progress.
When you put the power of data connectivity, computing, software and information together, the price/performance of everything changes drastically.
Everything gets disrupted.
I believe, in the next 20 years as human civilization, we will collectively achieve more than what has been achieved in the last 300 years.We are at the beginning of a new era for humanity.In this era, if you are not digital, and if you don't have globally competitive digital tools and skills, you simply will not survive.You will get disrupted. You will be outcompeted. You will be left behind. You will become irrelevant. India and Indians cannot afford to be left behind.
Today, India is ranked 155th in the world for mobile broadband Internet access, out of 230 countries. Jio is conceived tochange this. I have no doubt that with the launch of Jio, India's rank will go up to among the top ten.1.2 Billion Indians cannot be left behind as the world enters a new era. We have the youngest population in the world.
Digital Technologies open the doors to this Life- the Digital LifeHowever, Life cannot survive without oxygen.Data is the  Worse still, the supply of oxygen for digital life must never be unaffordable to any user. Doing so shows disrespect for Life. Jio respects Life Which is why Reliance created Jio. Jio is more than just business for us. Jio is our solemn commitment to enrich the life of every Indian.Jio means TO LIVE and to BE ALIVE. To every opportunity and realize the potential of every Indian.
All communication on the Internet is done using a digital language called the Internet Protocol – or IP for short.All smartphones, all computers, all servers – in fact – each and every participant on the Internet speaks IP. In the ensuing future, even household items like Televisions, refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines and even light-bulbs will talk IP. Industrial equipment, instrumentation systems and control systems will speak IP. Public infrastructure like traffic lights and safety cameras will speak IP.
This is called the Internet of things.
Most legacy telecom providers have not built their networks for data or the Internet. They have built their network to support voice and SMS.As the Internet revolution caught on, they have had to retrofit their legacy networks to deal with data and IP as an afterthought.Imagine using a translator to speak a language that you don't understand, versus speaking your mother tongue. The more you have to speak, the more cumbersome the translation process becomes. Translation is slow. It is inefficient. It is unnatural.
As they are confronted with the explosion of data usage, legacy Telcos have been trying to push this unnatural act to its breaking point. Jio, on the other hand, has created an all-IP network.This means that there is only one language spoken on the Jio network – the language of the Internet. With the launch of Jio, India's digital mother tongue will be IP.
With this single digital mother tongue, we will connect all of India into a single family and a single united nation. The all-IP design also makes Jio's network the most extensive and future-proof network in the world.It is a network built for ever increasing volumes of data and the best that the Internet has to offer. Jio is a DATA STRONG NETWORK BUILT FOR THE INTERNET from the ground up.Today, the Jio's 4G network already covers 18,000 cities and towns, and over 2 lakh villages. By March 2017, we will cover 90% of India's population.
Jio is the only mobile network in the country that is ONLY 4G LTE.
This means that there is only 4G on the Jio network and not “mostly 2G, sometimes 3G and once-in-a-while 4G”. In fact, it is the largest ONLY 4G LTE network in the world.We have also deployed the largest 100% Voice over LTE (or VoLTE) network.VoLTE provides crystal clear voice and video quality, instant call connectivity, the least call drops and a unique ability to use data and voice simultaneously.
Today, we know that networks are moving to High Definition Video.Jio has the only network conceived and born as a MOBILE VIDEO NETWORK from the ground up.As we progress, the Internet could offer even more compelling content than video, things like virtual reality and augmented reality.
Jio has the necessary foundation to be a leader in these areas as well.
The time is near when nearly every smartphone sold in India will support 4G LTE. There are 4G LTE smartphones available in India today below Rs 4,000. But I believe this is not enough.
A large number of phones bought in India are still feature phones – and not smartphones – because large sections of society find even the current smartphone prices unaffordable.So, today, Reliance Digital is introducing a lineup of super-affordable 4G LTE smartphones under our popular LYF brand, starting at Rs 2,999.More feature-rich models are available for progressively higher price-points like Rs 3999, Rs 4999 and Rs 5,999.And for those users who want to hold on to their 2G/3G smartphones or Wi-Fi capable feature phones, we are introducing our 4G LTE personal router, called Jio-Fi, for Rs 1,999.With this, Jio and Reliance Digital have ensured that entry price for using a 4G LTE network is affordable for all Indians.
Jio offers a suite of applications that brings you the very best across the categories of media, entertainment, money and essential utilities.With the JioTV entertainment app, “Anytime is Prime-time”.You can watch more than 300 live TV channels including 40 HD channels with access to all of last week's programming at any point in time.The JioCinema app brings the cinema-theatre at your fingertips.Watch ad-free, HD movies from the largest library of 6,000 movies, more than 60,000 music videos and 1 lakh episodes of TV shows in 10 languages.The JioMusic app makes Ultra-HD music a reality, with a library of 10 Mn songs in over 10 languages. JioMagazine and JioNews give access to thousands of latest magazines and your daily newspaper update. JioMoney is your personal wallet that allows you to go cashless.I believe that these apps will really showcase the capabilities of Jio's powerful network, and create a magical experience for Jio customers.
With this in mind, I am pleased to announce today that the Jio-Apps bouquet – which is worth Rs 15,000 for an annual subscription – will be available COMPLIMENTARYfor all active Jio customers up to 31st December 2017. Jio's pricing principles are about solving customer pain points. We have always put the customer first.And if this means changing the industry, then we are prepared to do so.Let me take you through three simple principles on which Jio's tariffs are built: First principle: Customers should pay for only one service, either voice or data. Not both.
The World over operators charge for only data while voice and messaging are essentially free.
So, today, I have great pleasure in announcing a revolutionary concept for the Indian market. All voice calls for Jio customers will be ABSOLUTELY FREE.The era of paying for voice calls is ending. Jio will usher India into a new era on the Jio network.Across India. To any network. Always. And in the spirit of One India – no roaming charges also. Jio will put an end to VOICE CALL charges in India. No Jio customer will ever have to pay for voice calls again.
Jio's advanced technologies and scale allow us to provide cutting edge services at a fraction of its traditional cost. I believe that Jio customers should be the first to benefit from this. Current market practice is to charge a base rate of Rs 4,000 – 10,000 per GB of data! Jio will have a base rate which is more than at a 90% discount over the industry. Our data plans go even further, with an effective rate for data of only 5p/ MB, or Rs 50/ GB. And the more data you use, the lower the rate. I believe that these are the absolute lowest data rates anywhere in the world. Jio makes India the highest quality, most affordable data market in the world.
Today, we are unveiling a Special Students Discount Offer:Any student, with a valid student ID card, will be able to get 25% MORE data on Jio's main tariffs. In addition, Jio is in the process of connecting the majority of India's schools and colleges with Wi-Fi to provide broadband wireless data access to students in their classrooms.
See our main story reporting on the key elements of the RJio offer