It looks like Facebook is currently in talks with Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio. The social media giant is looking to buy a stake in the telecom provider as part of a multi-billion dollar deal. The information available in a new report revealed some other aspects of the deal. Coming through the details, it seems like Facebook is looking to expand its foothold in the Indian market. We are not sure about how that would work though. This is considering how Facebook has not been able to launch multiple services due to strict rules. Let’s take a closer look at the rumored deal.
Facebook Reliance Jio multi-billion dollar deal details
According to a report from the Financial Times, the information regarding the possible deal comes from internal sources. As part of the deal, Facebook is looking to purchase a 10 percent stake in Reliance Jio. It also noted that the negotiations have stalled due to the global travel bans in place to combat coronavirus. Both companies have declined to comment regarding the matter. According to Live Mint, Reliance Jio has “emerged as the only company” to take on the international technology giants. The company has gradually expanded its business from telecommunications to home broadband, e-commerce, and more. Another technology giant, Google was also “engaged in separate talks” with Jio.
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These discussions come months after Reliance Jio announced a partnership with Microsoft to offer cloud computing to businesses. Taking a look at the rumored deal, it makes sense as India is an important market for Facebook. The country has about 400 million WhatsApp users. In addition, the number of internet users in India is set to swell up to 850 million in 2020. For context, the country had about 450 million internet users in 2017.
In fact, Facebook likely has the most users in India than any other country across the globe. In addition, India crossed the United States to became the second-largest smartphone market on the planet. Given the challenges that Facebook has faced in the past, things may ease out with a local partner.
