Opinion | Facebook and Jio could shape our digital future

Data is the new oil, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani had remarked a little over a year ago. If that remark captured how he saw the future of value creation, its irony was enriched by an equity deal struck by RIL’s telecom-and-data subsidiary Jio Platforms with Facebook Inc. just a day after crude oil fell below zero in the US, a direct fallout of the world’s covid crisis. Physical mobility has been arrested by the pandemic, while data zips furiously around the globe. Our thirst for fuel has been giving way to a hunger for bits and bytes for a while, but this shift got crystallized on Wednesday into a single figure: $5.7 billion. This is the sum that Facebook will reportedly pay for almost one-tenth of Jio Platforms’ equity. This is not simply an investment by the social media megacorp, nor just a debt-reduction device for RIL. It represents an alliance with vast space for operational synergies in digital ventures that could let both companies shape online markets in India. Facebook has near-monopoly status in social media globally—its WhatsApp chat app is the very first touchpoint of the day for millions—while Jio’s telecom penetration of the country has laid a platform for businesses ranging from e-commerce to entertainment. How the partnership pans out will be keenly watched.