Reliance Jio Infocomm and Cisco Systems that is based in the US are looking to extend their partnership to tap the Rs 50,000-crore strong enterprise market. This is expected to be done with a services portfolio which the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom firm is planning to launch commercially soon.
It was in 2012 that both these companies entered into a strategic partnership across multiple technology areas including deployment of voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) — a fourth-generation (4G) technology-based networks — for its consumer business.
“As they (Jio) make enterprise move, Cisco would start working with them closely for the intuitive network, collaboration, cloud and security,” stated an industry source.
According to the statements, Reliance Jio would be using the company’s key technologies to deliver network-based services that Jio would aim to offer to large companies. With this move, Jio is now preparing to tap the Rs 50,000-crore strong enterprise market pie which is currently dominated by Bharti Airtel and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Jio’s rival Bharti Airtel has more than 4.55 lakh enterprise customers that contribute close to 15% of its total revenue as of quarter ending June 2018. On the other hand, state-run BSNL, that mostly serves public sector companies, has around 25% revenue from enterprise business which it plans to further grow.
Reliance Jio has built a complete greenfield Internet Protocol or IP-backed network based on VoLTE technology, and its partnership with Cisco includes IP/MPLS, data centre, integrated mobile core, service provider Wi-Fi, contact center, security, and enterprise IT.
Following this, Jio has already deployed Cisco’s enterprise solutions in its Mumbai headquarters premise that can have upto 5,000 employees.