How India's Richest Man Could Play A Key Role In Tesla's Expansion Plans

This article was first published on the Benzinga India Portal.

Reliance Jio, India’s telecom giant, is reportedly in early talks with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), Elon Musk‘s electric vehicle company, about building a private network for Tesla’s operations. However, these discussions hinge on Tesla confirming its plans to establish a manufacturing unit in India.

What Happened? According to a Financial Express report, Jio and Tesla expect the private network under consideration to manage critical operations at faster speeds and handle tasks such as connected car solutions and production automation.

An anonymous Jio executive revealed that the telco is promoting 5G as a solution for enterprise connectivity. Jio is currently approaching companies in various industries, including automobiles, healthcare, and manufacturing, with potential use cases while offering to construct and manage their networks.

This follows a similar move by Airtel, which partnered with Tech Mahindra in December 2022 to create a private 5G network for Mahindra & Mahindra's Chakan manufacturing facility. This turned it into India’s first 5G-enabled auto manufacturing unit.

See also: Jio Likely To Hit 500M Subscribers By 2026, Stage Set For IPO: Analyst

While Jio — led by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani — plans to deploy a standalone 5G network, Airtel is setting up a non-standalone 5G network. Private networks are expected to become significant use cases of 5G technology in the coming months.

Corporate entities can establish their own Wi-Fi and data network under private networks, instead of relying on services from a telecom provider.

Since the cabinet approved the direct allocation of spectrum to enterprises in June 2022, this issue has been contentious. Telecom operators have criticized this move, arguing that it disrupts the level-playing field and allows technology firms a backdoor entry to provide 5G services to enterprises.

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