RIL conceptualising products, services for mobile broadband

Sitting on pan-India spectrum for Broadband Wireless Access for nearly a year, Reliance Industries today said it is in the process of conceptualising the products and services to be offered.

"... The services would be in the domain of education, healthcare, entertainment, financial services and government-citizen interfaces," Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and MD of RIL, told shareholders at the company's 37th AGM.

Broadband and broadband-enabled digital services are the next big leap forward in the digital transformation of our knowledge economy, he added.

Last year, in June, Mukesh Ambani-led RIL had forayed into the telecom arena with a bang, announcing the acquisition of Infotel, which had emerged as the sole winner of pan-India broadband spectrum, for Rs 4,800 crore.

"We foresee the creation and social value via the creation of a national, next generation broadband infrastructure," Ambani said.

RIL had cash and cash-equivalents of Rs 42,393 crore ($9.5 billion) as of March 31 this year, which was nearly double the level seen a year ago.

The company had outstanding debt of Rs 67,397 crore ($15.1 billion) as of March 31, 2011, as against Rs 62,495 crore ($13.9 billion) a year ago.

Ambani further added, "Our digital services business seeks to embrace our society's diverse needs and aspirations by building flexibility, intelligence and extensibility into the core of our infrastructure."

Last year, he had said that RIL would forge several strategic relations with a host of leading global technology players, service providers, infrastructure providers, application developers, device manufacturers and others to leapfrog India into the 4G revolution.

"It will gather momentum and visibility in the coming years and Reliance will be at the forefront of bringing about this digital revolution. A revolution that will help India lead the world," he said.