 "Reliance Jio Infocomm")
Ahead of its commercial launch, Reliance Jio is giving consumers a taste of its next-generation internet services through Wi-Fi hotspots. Jionet is currently offering complementary Wi-Fi services to consumers across India. In Mumbai, it has rolled out state-of-the-art Wi-Fi infrastructure at the Wankhede Stadium, which is the home ground of Mumbai Indians – the IPL franchise owned by RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
At the stadium, Jio delivered a speed of 13.55 Mbps compared to 4.68 Mbps offered at the Levis Stadium during NFL (National Football League) matches and 5.09 Mbps at Barclays Centre during NBA (National Basketball Association) matches. Wankhede Stadium is spread across 15,000 sq mt and can accommodate 30,000 spectators.
Cricket fans who went to watch the one-day international (ODI) between India and South Africa on October 25 at the Wankhede Stadium made liberal use of the complementary internet service and set a record of sorts as far as in-stadia data consumption is concerned. Jionet delivered 2.2 TB of data to viewers at Wankhede stadium during the match. A Reliance Jio spokesperson said: “Spectators lapped up the Jionet services, breaking all records of fastest average speed delivered per person and adoption rate (percentage of spectators who used the service in a stadium).”
During the ODI at Wankhede, 53 per cent spectators consumed internet and average data usage per user was 156 MB, which is higher than the average data consumption of 46 MB spectators would consume during an NFL match and 61 MB during an NBA match.
The only sporting event that has seen higher data usage has been the Superbowl series. The total Wi-Fi user count during the ODI was 14,500 out of 27,500, spectators and staff. Spectators used data services largely for video-streaming.
Globally, stadiums are rolling out high-speed internet services to keep engagement levels high with the Millennials, who want to stay connected even as they are watching a live sporting event. But data consumption by Indian spectators seems to be well ahead of global statistics. Data usage was at an all-time high during the match, well ahead of records set by NBA or NFL game that had previously taken place, says a Jio spokesperson.
