印度首富百億美元建4G網 免費向全國提供

India's richest man is rolling out a $20 billion mobile network that could bring lightning-fast Internet to hundreds of millions of people.

印度首富正斥資200億美元建設移動網絡，或可使十億人高速連接互聯網。

Indian consumers are already celebrating the arrival of Mukesh Ambani's new Reliance Jio service, seizing on the billionaire's promise to deliver rock bottom prices and download speeds that will enable streaming video.

印度消費者已經在慶祝穆克什•安巴尼新推出的瑞來斯Jio網絡服務。這位億萬富翁承諾，該網絡會以最低價格提供滿足流媒體使用的下載速度。

The 4G network, which reaches more than 80% of the country, officially went live Monday with a set of generous introductory offers.

這個覆蓋印度超過80%地區的4G網絡於週一正式開通，同時慷慨附送試用套餐。

Indians will be able to use Jio for free until the end of 2016, and pay as little as 149 rupees ($2.25) a month for data after that.

印度人到今年年底都可免費使用Jio網絡，之後的網費也只有每月149盧比（2.25美金）。

"Anything and everything that can go digital is going digital -- at an exponential rate," Ambani told investors last week at his company's annual general meeting.

安巴尼在上週的公司年度大會上對投資者說：所有一切能數字化的都在以指數速度數字化。

"Life is going digital."

生活正走向數字化。

Only one fifth of adults in India have access to the Internet.

印度只有五分之一的成年人有網可用。

Few public Wi-Fi spots exist, and fast broadband connections require infrastructure that is rarely found in poorer urban areas, much less rural ones.

幾乎沒有公共無線網絡站點。城市較貧窮的地區很難找到接入高速寬帶所需的基礎設施，農村地區則更難。

But that is changing fast.

但這一情況將很快改變。

If the Jio network succeeds, Ambani will be able to capitalize on a seismic shift that could see hundreds of millions of Indians come online in the coming years -- in most cases via a smartphone.

如果Jio網絡成功，安巴尼將在未來幾年從這場使數億印度人聯上網的鉅變中獲益。大多數印度人都通過智能手機上網。

It's a market that tech industry giants desperately want to crack.

印度是科技巨頭們極度垂涎的市場。

Google has installed free Wi-Fi at train stations across India, and Facebook tried to offer a free version of its platform.

谷歌已在印度各大火車站設置免費無線網絡，臉書也試圖向印度提供可登陸其平臺的免費服務。

Ambani has invested billions constructing nearly 100,000 telecoms towers across India.

安巴尼已投資數十億美元在印度全境建設近10萬座電信塔。

He estimates that Jio already covers some 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages.

他預計Jio網絡已覆蓋約1.8萬座城市和20萬個農村。

By March 2017, his aim is to reach 90% of the population.

他的目標是在明年三月覆蓋印度90%的人口。

Building a national 4G network from scratch represents a major risk for Ambani, who got out of telecoms about 15 years ago after a dispute with his brother, Anil Ambani, who controls Reliance Communications.

從零開始建設全國4G網絡對安巴尼也是一大風險。自從與兄弟阿尼爾•安巴尼產生分歧後，他已離開電信業約15年。而瑞來斯電信就由其兄弟掌舵。

The brothers, who together are estimated to be worth $26 billion, have patched things up in recent years.

據估算，安巴尼兄弟身家共計260億美元，近年雙方和好，Jio網絡將可以使用瑞來斯電信的無線電頻率。

Jio will be able to use radio frequencies owned by Reliance Communications. Rival networks have responded to the launch of Reliance Jio with special offers of their own, making a price war a near certainty.

與其競爭的網絡運營商已針對瑞來斯Jio網絡推出了自己的特惠活動，一場價格戰勢必要打響。

Airtel has slashed its prices for 3G and 4G service by 80%, and Vodafone has boosted the amount of data in its plans by nearly 70%.

印度巴蒂電信已將其3G和4G服務降價80%，而全球通信巨頭沃達豐在套餐價格不變的情況下將流量提高了近70%。

If Jio, which means "live life" in Hindi, is to become another mega business in Reliance's stable of energy, media, chemicals and retail operations, the network will have to be able to handle the load from millions of new customers.

Jio在印地語中意爲直播生活。如果Jio網絡要成爲橫跨能源、傳媒、化工和零售業的瑞來斯集團的另一大主業，那它還需承受數百萬新用戶的加載。

On Tuesday in New Delhi, a device on the Reliance network was showing impressive download speeds of 21 megabits per second.

週二，瑞來斯網絡的監測設備顯示其在新德里的下載速度很不錯，達21兆每秒。

With $20 billion at stake, that kind of performance needs to be replicated across India.

關乎200億美元的投資，這樣的網速需要讓印度全境都享受到。