By 2020, India should be fully 4G, ready for 5G: Mukesh Ambani

New Delhi, Oct 25: After catapulting India to being the world's largest mobile data consuming nation, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries said that India will be fully covered 4G by 2020 and should be ready for 5G by that time as well.

He also said India has moved from 155th rank in mobile broadband penetration to being the number one nation in mobile data consumption in the world in less than two years. The country has an unparalleled combination of connectivity with affordability.

"This is the fastest transition anywhere in the world from 2G/3G to 4G," he said. "By 2020, I believe that India will be a fully-4G country and ready for 5G ahead of others."

By 2020, every phone in India will be a 4G-enabled phone and every customer will have access to 4G connectivity, he said.

Jio is committed to "connecting everyone and everything, everywhere, always with the highest quality and the most affordable price," he said.

Reliance Jio, which stormed the telecom industry with free calls and SMS bundled with dirt cheap data in 2016, has begun rolling out its ambitious ultra-high speed fibre-based broadband services for homes and offices.

Jio's disruptive entry which sparked off competitive offers from other operators pushed up mobile data consumption in India.

"And from day one, JioGigaFiber will offer complete fixed-mobile convergence where Indians will travel seamlessly between mobile and fixed broadband networks 4G and 5G when on the move and Wi-Fi when indoors," he said addressing the India Mobile Congress here.

Aiming to connect every premise with highest quality network, he said the move presents an opportunity to replicate India's success in mobile data consumption for fixed broadband as well.

"I believe India will rise from a lowly 135th rank to be among the top three nations in fixed broadband at a pace that will surprise the world," the Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman said.

He, however, sounded a word of caution on data usage.

"We have to be mindful that data is the most important resource in this new world. And India and Indians will generate a humongous amount of data. It is important that we utilise this rich resource for the benefit of India and Indians, with adequate safeguards," he said.