How Jio effect took Mukesh Ambani to Forbes' top Game Changers' list
Another year, another Forbes list proclaims Mukesh Ambani the richest man in India. But this time, the Reliance Jio chairman also finds himself on Forbes list of Global Game Changers for 2017. Fresh from the success of changing the landscape of the mobile broadband industry, the billionaire has been honoured for bringing a "4G revolution" in India.
Ambani leads the 25-person line-up of entrepreneurs who have "impacted industries and lives around the world". Interestingly, Ambani is the sole Indian representative.
In a statement, Forbes explained that it conferred Reliance Jio's chairman with the honour for "bringing the internet to India's masses". It added that Ambani's efforts saw him "entering the country's (India) telecom market with a bang, offering fast internet at dirt-cheap prices, gaining 100 million customers in six months to set off a wave of consolidation in the market."
Responding to the announcement, Ambani said that "anything and everything that can go digital is going digital and India cannot afford to be left behind (in this race).” However, his efforts to change the rules of the game in the Indian telecom market have come at a cost.
Reliance Jio: the game changer?
Jio, which has captured a user base of more than 100 million in a matter of months, is facing the consequences of trying to win loyalty by offering freebies. What began with free data and calls for customers slowly turned into cheaper Prime offers and now the Jio user is left with cash backs.
The move has been termed as monopolistic in nature, with competitors asking the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to step in and put an end to the massive freebie culture started by Jio.
TRAI, however, chose not to intervene and in its leniency towards a seemingly benign Reliance Jio, went against the basic spirit of the TRAI Act, created to “protect the interests of the service providers and consumers of the telecom sector, to promote and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector”.
Be that as it may, Jio has been a game-changer, if not for the customers, then at least for the telecom industry. In the wake of its predatory pricing, all the major players (Airtel, Idea, Vodafone) in the industry have been dragged into a price-war that the industry had avoided for years.
Ambani's Jio Gamble adds billions to his wealth
According to a report published in The Economic Times, Ambani's gamble with Reliance Jio has paid great dividends. The oil and gas tycoon has seen his wealth rise by $7.10 billion so far this year, and his net worth as of May 17 stands at $29.9 Billion.
Over the past few months, Reliance Jio has managed to provide an impressive 1 billion Gigabytes of data every month – a number close to the cumulative of what all networks in the US provide.
Such successes have not only earned Ambani the billions, but also global recognition. His attempts to provide faster internet services to the Indian masses at throwaway prices are a development the world won't stop following.