Google Cloud and Reliance Jio announce 5G partnership

In addition to the 5G partnership, Reliance also announced the JioPhone Next, a fully featured Android smartphone powered by an optimized version of Android OS jointly developed by Jio and Google.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and Google Cloud have entered into a new, long-term 5G partnership to unlock the transformational potential of 5G and to further Jio's mission to digitize India with faster and better connectivity.

The announcement was made today at the 44th Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

Excited to announce the next steps in our partnership with @RelianceJio to accelerate India's digitization, starting with a new affordable Jio smartphone with an optimized @Android experience, and a 5G collaboration between Jio & @GoogleCloud.https://t.co/Wi9DExPU6b

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) June 24, 2021

"It will help more than a billion Indians connect to a faster and better internet, support businesses in their digital transformation, and help Jio build new services in sectors like health, education and more — laying a foundation for the next phase of India's digitization," said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.

The collaboration will also see Reliance shifting its core retail businesses to Google Cloud's scalable infrastructure, enabling them to take advantage of Google's AI and machine learning, e-commerce, and demand forecasting offerings. By harnessing the reliability and performance of Google Cloud, these businesses will be able to scale up to respond to customer demand.

"Jio will use GoogleCloud's cutting-edge technologies to power Jio's 5G solutions and for powering the internal needs of key Reliance growth businesses like Reliance Retail, JioMart, JioSaavnand JioHealth,” said, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, RelianceIndustries Limited.

In addition to the 5G partnership, Reliance also announced the JioPhone Next, a fully-featured Android smartphone powered by an optimized version of Android OS jointly developed by Jio and Google.

The JioPhone Next will be an ultra-affordable smartphone with language and translation features, a great camera, and support for the latest Android updates. It will be available in the Indian market starting September 10, 2021, the company said.