Reliance’s gradual transition into a tech company only appears to have accelerated after its recent partnership with Facebook.
As the world works from home amid the global coronavirus lockdowns, Jio has said that it’s “just a few days away” from launching a video conferencing-cum-collaborative app. Called Jio Meet, the app will capitalize on the surging demand for video conferences in today’s times. “Jio Meet is a platform which has many uniqueness- it actually has an ability to work on any device, any operating system, and it has an ability to do a complete collaboration,” said Pankaj Pawar, senior VP, Reliance Jio Infocomm. “And effectively, this collaboration does not limit to a typical video conferencing app,” he added.
Reliance has already thought of several use cases for its app. Jio’s existing eHealth platform will be integrated with the Meet app will allow users to consult doctors virtually, get prescriptions, order medicines and lab tests online, and enable digital waiting rooms for doctors. Its eEducation platform will create virtual classrooms for students and teachers, record sessions and notes, assign and submit homework, organize time-bound tests and offer multimedia content for students to self-learn.
There’s probably no better time to launch a video conferencing and collaboration app, but competition in the space is intense. Zoom has moved from relative obscurity to becoming a household name within the span of the last few months, and had recently become more valuable than the top three American companies put together. And bigger tech companies aren’t going to sit by and let Zoom take away the spotlight — Google has meanwhile said that its own Meet app is now free for everyone, and Facebook has launched Messenger Rooms, which will allow 50 people to video call at once without any time limit.
Jio Meet, thus, will have to deal with plenty of competition once it launches.Reliance has been behaving increasingly like a tech company in recent years — it’s made investments in companies like as diverse as AI chatbot company Haptik and NowFloats, which helps businesses go online. It also has its own suite of apps, and also runs a music streaming service in Jio-Saavn. Jio Meet, though, will be the first stand-alone tech product that Jio will come out with. And how it manages to stack up against competitors from larger tech companies might give an insight into how Jio’s move towards tech will evolve in the years the come.