MUMBAI, INDIA: Reliance Communications announced a partnership with Polycom Inc., a  provider of tele-presence, video and voice solutions, for video conferencing service.

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The service will be marketed through Reliance ADA Group's retail arm, Reliance Webstore Limited.

Polycom will bundle its QDX 6000 video conferencing system with VPN connectivity through Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ wireless broadband data card.

The solution will extend affordable, plug-and-play video conferencing to organizations of all sizes, enabling them to realize real-time, face-to-face visual communication.

Besides small and medium enterprises (SMEs), education, event management, media & entertainment, and hospitality are among the sectors likely to take advantage of the video conferencing service.

Sarup Chowdhary, director & CEO, Reliance Webstore Limited, said, “Reliance World operates the world's largest network of video conferencing suites. Through our alliance with Polycom, we are making video conferencing a simple plug-and-play operation that can be deployed and used virtually anytime, anywhere.”

The Polycom QDX 6000 video conferencing system delivers video and CD-quality audio, along with content sharing capabilities, at a bandwidth of 256 kbps. Customers of the wireless video conferencing service will be able to connect to any industry standards-based video conferencing system, anywhere in the world.

Hansjoerg Wagner, VP and MD, Polycom Asia Pacific, said, “The wireless video conferencing solution jointly developed by Polycom and Reliance is truly a unique innovation on a global scale. Although mobile broadband exists in many markets, India is the first country in the world to deliver a wireless video conferencing service."

The service is being commercially rolled out in over 40 Indian cities and expanded to more cities in a phased manner. The Wireless Video Conferencing service will ride on Reliance Communications’ telecom infrastructure backbone.

The solution will be offered at a price point below Rs. 2 lakhs and will be powered by Reliance's Video Conferencing service including the countrywide network of video conferencing suites at Reliance World.

A connectivity plan of about Rs. 1500 per month has been specially designed for this service. This plan covers 10 GB of usage in a month. Additional usage will be billed at the rate of 50 paise per MB. Reliance will also offer this service on pay-per-use basis.