Introduces world's first Wireless Video Conferencing service
- Affordable, out-of-the-box solution leverages Polycom’s world-leading video conferencing technology, bundled with Reliance connectivity and services
- Service expected to drive mainstream adoption of visual communications within two to three years
- Reliance Webstore Limited to market the wireless video conferencing service in India
- A revenue upside of nearly Rs 400 crore over five years for Reliance Webstore
Reliance Communications (BSE: RCOM), India’s largest and only telecom operator offering nationwide CDMA and GSM mobile services, has forged a partnership with Polycom Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in tele-presence, video and voice solutions, to introduce world's first wireless, high-resolution video conferencing service. The service will be marketed through Reliance ADA Group's retail arm, Reliance Webstore Limited.
Bundling the easy-to-use Polycom QDX 6000ä video conferencing system with dedicated VPN connectivity through the Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ wireless broadband data card, the service significantly lowers the price barrier to adopting video conferencing and is expected to be a mass enabler of video conferencing usage across multiple industry verticals in India.
The jointly developed offering will extend affordable, plug-and-play video conferencing to organizations of all sizes, enabling them to realize immediate productivity and efficiency benefits from real-time, face-to-face visual communication. Besides small and medium enterprises (SMEs), education, event management, media & entertainment, and hospitality are among the sectors likely to take advantage of the flexible and affordable video conferencing service developed by Reliance and Polycom.
Reliance Webstore Limited already offers wired video conferencing services to over 1500 corporate clients through its network of over 200 video conference suites at Reliance World stores across the country.
Commenting on its partnership with Polycom, Mr Sarup Chowdhary, Director & CEO, Reliance Webstore Limited said, “Reliance World operates the world's largest network of video conferencing suites. Through our alliance with Polycom, we are making video conferencing a simple plug-and-play operation that can be deployed and used virtually anytime, anywhere.”
The Polycom QDX 6000 video conferencing system delivers high-resolution video and CD-quality audio, along with simple-to-use content sharing capabilities – even at a bandwidth of 256 kbps. Customers of the wireless video conferencing service will be able to connect to any industry standards-based video conferencing system, anywhere in the world. The wireless nature of the service also makes it suitable for out-of-office events. Using this service, even family events like weddings, parties and ceremonies can be webcast live by event managers on a pay-per-use basis.
Mr Hansjoerg Wagner, Vice President and Managing Director, Polycom Asia Pacific, said, “The wireless video conferencing solution jointly developed by Polycom and Reliance is truly a unique innovation on a global scale. Although mobile broadband exists in many markets, India is the first country in the world to deliver a wireless video conferencing service. Through our partnership with Reliance Communications, and our relationships with other leading vendors in the Unified Communications ecosystem, Polycom sees that visual communications will be ubiquitous within two to three years.”
Leveraging Reliance Webstore's extensive retail reach, the service is being commercially rolled out in over 40 Indian cities. The service will be expanded to more cities in a phased manner. The Wireless Video Conferencing service will ride on Reliance Communications’ telecom infrastructure backbone. Reliance Communications’ extensive pan-India, next generation, integrated, convergent digital network spans over 190,000 route kilometers of fibre optic cable systems. This network is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire communications value chain.
Mr. Vrajesh Shelat, Head – Wireless Data Business, Reliance Communications Ltd. said “Our robust pan-India network is equipped to deliver a lifelike video experience over a secure Virtual Private Network connectivity. Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ is well-equipped to handle the taxing demands of video conferencing. The launch of the world's first high-resolution wireless video conferencing service further reinforces Reliance’s capability of delivering innovative solutions. The corporate sector, especially the growing Services and SME sectors, will benefit greatly from this offering.”
The out-of-the-box solution will be offered at a price point below Rs 2 lacs and will be powered by Reliance's Video Conferencing service including the countrywide network of video conferencing suites at Reliance World. A connectivity plan of about Rs 1500 per month has been specially designed for this service. This plan covers 10 GB of usage in a month. Additional usage will be billed at the rate of 50 paise per MB. Reliance will also offer this service on an affordable pay-per-use basis.
Reliance Webstore Limited believes that the wireless video conferencing service has the potential to double the market size in India and projects a revenue upside of over Rs 400 crore over the next five years from the new service. The company sees major off-take of the service in mini-metros & smaller cities, especially in the SME business clusters, and expects nearly 60% of the sales to come from these geographies.
About Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Limited founded by the late Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has a net worth in excess of Rs. 64,000 crore (US$ 13.6 billion), cash flows of Rs. 13,000 crore (US$ 2.8 billion), net profit of Rs. 8,400 crore (US$ 1.8 billion).
Reliance Communications is India's foremost and truly integrated telecommunications service provider. The Company, with a customer base of 105 million including over 2.5 million individual overseas retail customers and nearly 3 million DTH customers, ranks among the Top 5 Telecom companies in the world by number of customers in a single country. Reliance Communications corporate clientele includes 2,100 Indian and multinational corporations, and over 800 global, regional and domestic carriers.
Reliance Communications has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire communications value chain, covering over 24,000 towns and 600,000 villages. Reliance Communications owns and operates the world's largest next generation IP enabled connectivity infrastructure, comprising over 190,000 route kilometers of fibre optic cable systems in India, USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.
About Reliance Webstore Limited
Reliance Webstore Limited—a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company—manages the nationwide chain of Reliance World stores. The stores are designed to give the customer a delightful experience of the digital world of information, communication, entertainment and utility services. Besides offering the products and services of Reliance Communications, Reliance World showcases all retail offerings of the Group’s brands, including Reliance Big TV DTH and Big Flix Video Rentals. The stores also offer a wide range of interesting and innovative products & services, beyond the Group’s brands. All Reliance World stores are connected to Reliance’s countrywide optic fibre network. The Broadband Centre at Reliance World leverages this broadband network to offer High-Speed Internet Surfing, Online Gaming, Video Conferencing, Digital Electronic News Gathering, Digital Services, eLearning, Ready-to-use Offices and many more services.
Reliance World operates the world's largest Video Conferencing network with over 200 Video Conference Suites across the country. Reliance World's Video Conferencing service has won the prestigious Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership Award thrice and several other international awards. Reliance World also holds the record for hosting the world's largest Video Conference. Currently, there are 234 Reliance World stores across 104 cities in India and the network continues to expand to more locations & cities. For more information on Reliance World, visit www.relianceworld.in
About Polycom Inc
Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Visit www.polycom.co.in for more information and follow us on Twitter @PolycomAlert.
