Reliance AGM 2022: Jio AirFiber, JioCloud PC Announced — Here's What They'll Bring To The 5G Table

JioCloud PC is touted to eliminate the need for a traditional physical PC entirely.

Reliance Jio appears to be going all out on 5G. At the virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) made a slew of announcements around 5G. It said that the first phase of 5G rollout will take place in October this year, covering key cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and more. Reliance also said it is developing “ultra-affordable” 5G smartphones in collaboration with Google. Amidst all these, Jio also announced two new 5G-based services — AirFiber and JioCloud PC. While the former will ensure 5G Internet speeds without the hassle of wire connections, the latter aims to do away with physical computers altogether.

Jio AirFiber: What is it? How will it work?

Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said at RIL AGM that the company’s new AirFiber will bring offices and homes up to gigabit-speed Internet. 

In a nutshell, Jio AirFiber is a plug-and-play device that will offer fiber broadband-like speed over the air. It will work similar to Jio’s current JioFi portable broadband device. However, JioFi currently offers Internet in mobile 4G speed (around 8-10 Mbps, depending on the region where you are using it). Jio AirFiber promises to deliver 5G-like broadband speeds — which the company has dubbed Jio True 5G — without the hassle of setting up an elaborate fiber wire network.

With the advent of Jio AirFiber, the company looks to introduce yet another high-speed Internet service in India — JioCloud PC.

JioCloud PC: What is it? How will it work?

Reliance said during the AGM that with AirFiber, users can now “do away with all expenses related to buying computer hardware and periodically upgrading it, and opt to use a virtual PC hosted in the cloud — called JioCloud PC”.

JioCloud PC is said to require “no upfront investment,” as the service will be a pay-to-use feature, which means you will only have to pay for the amount of data you used (there might be additional charges for specific services, although nothing has been confirmed yet). If you have used cloud computing in any form, or even cloud gaming for that matter, you may have a pretty good idea of how JioCloud PC will work. 

Cloud computing, as the name suggests, will offer users all the functionalities one would expect from a regular PC or a laptop, without having to buy and set up a physical computer with CPUs and other peripherals. All you need is a screen (like a monitor or TV or even a Tablet), input devices (keyboard, mouse), and a stable and high-speed Internet connection (which AirFiber is touted to provide). 

From what we noted at the AGM, the JioCloud PC will come in a simple modem-looking box, which needs to be connected to a display and you should be good to go. This can come in handy for students, gig–workers, small businesses, and even large enterprises in India, Reliance said. 

There’s no further detail on a launch date or payment plans for JioCloud PC. However, it’s safe to speculate that it may eventually get launched after a full rollout of 5G services in India later this year.