With Metaverse & Cloud Gaming, Jio Fast Tracks 5G Initiatives Before The Auction

As the Indian government gears up to hold the 5G spectrum auctions in early June, Jio starts experimenting with its 5G stack. After experimenting with immersive retail experience, the telecom giant has also trialled a virtual reality (VR) enabled multi-player cloud gaming experience. 

“The future of buying is in the metaverse, and 5G opens up new opportunities for ecommerce 4.0. Jio’s 5G technology is best suited for delivering this experience for consumers and merchants,” Aayush Bhatnagar, senior vice president, Jio, said on LinkedIn on Tuesday..

Earlier this year, Jio invested $15 Mn in Two Platforms Inc (TWO), a Silicon Valley-based deeptech startup for a 25% equity stake, which was seen as Jio’s first step into the metaverse. 

Founded in July 2021, by Pranav Mistry,TWO is an AR startup that builds interactive and visually immersional AI experiences. The startup enables real-time AI voice and video calls, digital humans, immersive spaces and lifelike gaming.

“Jio continues to mark industry firsts with its 5G stack. Today, Jio has trialled a “Virtual Reality (VR) enabled’ multi-player cloud gaming experience on its indigenous 5G network,”  Bhatnagar said in another LinkedIn post on Wednesday.

“This trial is a significant upgrade from console based cloud games, as multiple gamers are connected to Jio’s low latency 5G network using their VR headsets and gaming accessories,”  Bhatnagar added.

Considerably, Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishanaw on Wednesday said that India’s own 5G stack will be ready around September-October.

Speaking at an event organised by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Vaishnaw said, “5G stack is also very much in advanced stage…by somewhere in September-October India’s own 5G stack will be ready.”

On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a 5G Test Bed for startups on Tuesday.

TRAI noted that Indian startups had to go abroad for testing mobile network use cases as there were no testing facilities in the country and that was the idea behind the launch of the 5G test bed. 

As India is gearing up for 5G, Jio’s archrival Airtel has also increased its focus on 5G. However, Gopal Vittal, managing director and CEO, South Asia, Airtel, reportedly said that the commercial 5G service would see a limited roll-out in 2022 and 2023 due to the restricted number of 5G-enabled handsets and the nascent ecosystem.