Reliance Jio gets provisional registration as digital TV MSO

Reliance Industries on Monday said its subsidiary Reliance Jio Media, has been granted provisional registration to operate as a multi-service operator (MSO) in digital addressable system (DAS) across India.

"Reliance Jio Media Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, has been granted provisional registration by ministry of information and broadcasting for operating as MSO in DAS in pan-India," the company said in a regulatory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

An MSO is an operator of multiple cable or direct-broadcast satellite television systems.

The company is building the brand Jio to offer integrated business capabilities to offer telecom, high-speed data, digital commerce, media and payment services and has plans to make the brand an integrated TV and mobile set of content in India by 2017-18.

It has acquired control of the media house Network18, which has 17 news channels including CNBC TV18, IBN7 and CNBC Awaaz as well as 14 entertainment channels in eight languages.

Jio has its presence across all of the 29 states in the country with a physical presence in nearly 18,000 cities and towns and has a wireless footprint in over one lakh villages.