Broadband
Reliance Jio ready to disrupt wired broadband: Matthew Oomen
MUMBAI: There’s further disruption coming thanks to the Reliance Jio juggernaut. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has said this time and time again for the mobile space where price wars have seen call and data prices plummeting, making consumers rub their hands in glee.
And now this was reiterated by Reliance Jio president network, global strategy and service development Matthew O Oommen, according to a report on telecoms.com of his key note address at the Big Communications Event in Texas earlier this week. Said he: “ We disrupted the mobile industry and now we are looking further. India and Jio are just getting started.”
The “further” he is referring to is wired broadband services to the home as well as to business customers. Its aggression in the telecom space has seen it snare 186 million subscribers for its 4G services who accounted for 372 billion minutes of VOLTE calls (in Q1 of this year) and 2.4 billion hours of video each month.
Ambani has set an even more ambitious target: that of an overall 500 million subscribers for its video-centric network.
But it has set its sights on shaking up the broadband FTTH and enterprise solutions segment as well. Just like it is doing in the 4G space where it is driving innovation in pricing, delivery and product. Tests have been on in different cities for its FTTH service with select residential and enterprise customers.
Oommen, during his keynote in Texas, said that the Reliance Jio philosophy is disrupt or be disrupted and that both segments are relatively under-served. There are just18 million broadband residential customers and the enterprise market is just one fifth of the size it could be, he shared in India, he stated, according to telecoms.com.
He also proudly claimed that FTTH will also see innovation as has been evidenced in the wireless segment with its MyJio app which has had 150 million downloads, with the JioTV service signing up 100 million subs and JioChat 50 million. Among the other services figure: JioBank, JioHealthHub and JioMusic which is slated to get a pump up with the acquisition of global Indian music leading streaming music service Saavn.com.
Are the existing wired broadband providers ready for the coming meltdown? Watch this space!
Broadband
Zoff Foods extends Shilpa Shetty partnership into ninth year
Spice brand reinforces trust-led positioning amid growth and funding push.
MUMBAI: Nine years, one flavour and the recipe clearly still works. Zoff Foods has extended its long-running association with Shilpa Shetty, marking nine consecutive years of her as brand ambassador as the company scales its presence across Indian households. What began as a digital-first collaboration has gradually evolved into a defining element of the brand’s identity. Over nearly a decade, the partnership has mirrored Zoff’s own journey from an emerging challenger to a fast-growing FMCG player with a widening footprint across e-commerce, quick commerce and offline retail channels.
The logic behind the continuity is straightforward. In a category where trust and familiarity drive purchase decisions, particularly in spices and ready-to-cook segments, long-term associations tend to carry more weight than short bursts of visibility. Shetty’s positioning as a fitness-conscious, health-aware public figure aligns with the brand’s emphasis on purity and quality factors that are increasingly shaping consumer choices in modern Indian kitchens.
The extension also comes at a time when Zoff Foods is entering a more aggressive growth phase. The company recently raised $2 million in a Pre-Series B funding round led by JM Financial Private Equity, with participation from Aman Gupta, signalling a push towards expanding distribution, product innovation and market reach.
Company executives have positioned the continued partnership as a strategic anchor amid this expansion, reinforcing brand recall while entering new markets. For Shetty, the association remains rooted in shared values around authenticity and ingredient integrity attributes that resonate strongly with increasingly mindful consumers.
In a market crowded with new-age brands and shifting loyalties, Zoff’s approach suggests a different playbook: build slowly, stay consistent, and let familiarity do the heavy lifting. Because sometimes, in both branding and cooking, it’s not about reinventing the dish, it’s about perfecting it over time.
