Social media giant, Facebook, is in talks with Reliance Jio, a top Indian telco to acquire 10 per cent stake in a multi billion dollar deal.
Techcrunch says that the three-year old Reliance Jio is valued at more than $60 billion and over 370 million subscribers. Facebook wants a piece of the pie in the Indian market especially after its attempt and failure to expand the free internet initiative, Free Basics, in India. However, Facebook already has Express Wi-Fi in India albeit in negligible scale.
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Reliance Jio, owned by Indiaâs richest man Muneshi Ambani, owns a music streaming service JioSaavn, on-demand live television service JioTV and payments service JioPay.
Facebook hopes to tap into Jioâs huge subscriber base to expand its digital presence in India. Futher, Jio is aligns with Facebookâs goal of providing internet access to all where in 3 years it has captured about 35 per cent of the Indian market.
Jio changed the telecom landscape in India by offering high-speed 4G data at throwaway prices along with free voice call.
