Reliance Jio is a popular LTE network provider in India with over 100 million subscribers in the country, a milestone that it accomplished in less than six months. Now, a new report suggests that Google might be working with the operator to develop an affordable 4G handset for the Indian consumer market.
The Hindu Business Line cites unnamed industry sources aware of the "secret" project between Google and Reliance Jio, saying that the two companies are developing an affordable smartphone with 4G capabilities exclusive to Reliance Jio"s network.
According to the aforementioned sources, this will not only benefit Reliance Jio in the form of increased data adoption, improvements to the quality of its service, and exposure to a larger market, but also allow Google access to a large number of potential users who are connecting to the internet for the first time.
The move would also boost Google"s Android One initiative to bring low-cost handsets to developing countries like India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam - a program that it later expanded to the US and European markets as well. That said, it is important to note that both the companies haven"t confirmed the report as of yet, so it is important to take this piece of news with a rather large grain of salt.
Source: The Hindu Business Line via Android Authority