Reliance Jio, Airtel spar over NB-IoT readiness in India

NEW DELHI: Bitter rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are sparring again, this time on their readiness to launch commercial narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) services.

Mukesh Ambani-led Jio claimed that it is the only telco in India to have the capability and network footprint for a nationwide launch of NB-IoT services. It had launched a pilot in Mumbai in 2018 and expects to launch commercial services in the coming months.

“Jio has a unique advantage again being only (4G) LTE and all-IP network…we have the capability compared to any other operator to launch nationwide NB-IoT in India without having any incremental spectrum leveraging guard bands,” Jio president Mathew Oommen told ET.