造福大众，印度免费向全国提供4G网络

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

印度首富正斥资200亿美元建设移动网络，或可使十亿人高速连接互联网。

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.

印度消费者已经在庆祝穆克什•安巴尼新推出的瑞来斯Jio网络服务。这位亿万富翁承诺，该网络会以最低价格提供满足流媒体使用的下载速度。

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

这个覆盖印度超过80%地区的4G网络于周一正式开通，同时慷慨附送试用套餐。印度人到今年年底都可免费使用Jio网络，之后的网费也只有每月149卢比(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. "Life is going digital."

安巴尼在上周的公司年度大会上对投资者说：“所有一切能数字化的都在以指数速度数字化。生活正走向数字化。”

Only one fifth of adults in India have access to the Internet. Few public Wi-Fi spots exist, and fast broadband connections require infrastructure that is rarely found in poorer urban areas, much less rural ones.

印度只有五分之一的成年人有网可用。几乎没有公共无线网络站点。城市较贫穷的地区很难找到接入高速宽带所需的基础设施，农村地区则更难。

But that is changing fast. 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.

但这一情况将很快改变。如果Jio网络成功，安巴尼将在未来几年从这场使数亿印度人联上网的巨变中获益。大多数印度人都通过智能手机上网。

It's a market that tech industry giants desperately want to crack. Google has installed free Wi-Fi at train stations across India, and Facebook tried to offer a free version of its platform.

印度是科技巨头们极度垂涎的市场。谷歌已在印度各大火车站设置免费无线网络，脸书也试图向印度提供可登陆其平台的免费服务。

Ambani has invested billions constructing nearly 100,000 telecoms towers across India. He estimates that Jio already covers some 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages. By March 2017, his aim is to reach 90% of the population.

安巴尼已投资数十亿美元在印度全境建设近10万座电信塔。他预计Jio网络已覆盖约1.8万座城市和20万个农村。他的目标是在明年三月覆盖印度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.

从零开始建设全国4G网络对安巴尼也是一大风险。自从与兄弟阿尼尔•安巴尼产生分歧后，他已离开电信业约15年。而瑞来斯电信就由其兄弟掌舵。

The brothers, who together are estimated to be worth $26 billion, have patched things up in recent years. Jio will be able to use radio frequencies owned by Reliance Communications.

据估算，安巴尼兄弟身家共计260亿美元，近年双方和好，Jio网络将可以使用瑞来斯电信的无线电频率。

Rival networks have responded to the launch of Reliance Jio with special offers of their own, making a price war a near certainty. 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%.

与其竞争的网络运营商已针对瑞来斯Jio网络推出了自己的特惠活动，一场价格战势必要打响。印度巴蒂电信已将其3G和4G服务降价80%，而全球通信巨头沃达丰在套餐价格不变的情况下将流量提高了近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在印地语中意为“直播生活”。如果Jio网络要成为横跨能源、传媒、化工和零售业的瑞来斯集团的另一大主业，那它还需承受数百万新用户的加载。

On Tuesday in New Delhi, a device on the Reliance network was showing impressive download speeds of 21 megabits per second. With $20 billion at stake, that kind of performance needs to be replicated across India.

周二，瑞来斯网络的监测设备显示其在新德里的下载速度很不错，达21兆每秒。关乎200亿美元的投资，这样的网速需要让印度全境都享受到。