India's Reliance Group has launched a new Internet of Things (IoT) venture, called Unlimit, in partnership with Cisco Jasper, the IoT platform division of IP giant Cisco.

The new entity will use Cisco Jasper's management platform, Control Center, together with Reliance Communications Ltd. infrastructure to provide IoT services to various organizations.

"IoT is a critical enabler for India's growth and businesses throughout the country are already utilizing its huge potential to help deliver innovative new services to their customers, while reducing cost and increasing revenue," said Juergen Hase, Unlimit's new CEO, in a statement. "We are delighted to partner with Cisco Jasper and this strategic partnership will strengthen the market position of Unlimit significantly."

RCom is not the first Indian service provider to launch a separate unit to address the IoT market in the country. Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai: BHARTIARTL), the country's biggest operator, introduced its Connectivity Management Platform last year, marketing it as a one-stop solution for addressing IoT connectivity needs. Number-two player Vodafone India , meanwhile, has rolled out a machine-to-machine (M2M) platform to cater to similar requirements. And Tata Communications Ltd. is in the process of building the country's first dedicated IoT network in the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. (See Tata Comms to Deploy IoT Network Using LoRa.)

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RCom, however, will also work on helping the government to realize the vision behind Digital India and Smart City, initiatives partly aimed at ensuring India takes advantage of the latest network technologies.

Cisco has indicated that it plans to hire IoT engineering talent within India, with new recruits set to work at Cisco's India Development Center in Bengaluru.

"We are a company with deep roots in India, as both myself and one of my co-founders were born and raised here," says Jahangir Mohammed, the general manager at Cisco Jasper. "It is inspiring to see the government and enterprises throughout India invest in IoT to advance both the country and commerce, which is why we are making our own investment in this market. Reliance Group's deep commitment to advancing IoT throughout the country makes them an ideal partner."

— Gagandeep Kaur, contributing editor, special to Light Reading