CCI Clears Google Buying 7.7% Stake In Jio Platforms

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday said it has approved internet major Google’s proposed purchase of 7.73% stake in Jio Platforms.

In July, it was announced that Google has agreed to invest INR 33,737 Cr to buy a 7.7% stake in the Reliance Industries’ technology venture.

“Commission approves acquisition of 7.73% equity share capital of Jio Platforms by Google,” the watchdog said in a Tweet.

Google had mentioned in its filing that the internet tech giant’s investment in Jio Platforms is for manufacturing a new smartphone in India. 

“The proposed transaction enables Google and JPL to develop and launch a new smartphone in India. The parties, thus, consider that the only relevant market for assessing the horizontal competitive effects of the transaction is the market for the supply of mobile phones in India. Outside this transaction, Google and JPL will continue to conduct their business activities independently,” reads the filing. 

CCI’s nod comes at a time when Reliance began trials for its 5G technology along with US-based Qualcomm and claims to have achieved a speed of one gigabyte (GB) per second. 

Jio Plans Roll Out Cheapest 5G Enabled Smartphones Priced At INR 5K

As part of its plan to cement it’s positing in India, Reliance, through its telecom venture Jio, had announced its plans to roll out 5G enabled smartphones at an initial price of around INR 5,000, which will be subsequently lowered to around INR 2,500 as production scales up. 

The cheapest 5G-enabled smartphones currently available in India are priced at around INR 27,000. 

According to reports, the manufacturing for these smartphones will be outsourced to Indian vendors. And while the new phones would be bundled with Jio’s 4G data packs, it is likely that the phones would be compatible with 5G technology, thus ensuring users’ seamless transition from Jio’s 4G to 5G telecom network when the superior spectrum becomes available in India.

While Jio is the market leader in the Indian telecom sector with around 34% market share, it is trying to gain access to a significant number of users, estimated to be around 200-300 Mn, who still use 2G and 3G mobile networks.

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