The announcements came against the backdrop of a series of discounts and freebies offered by existing layers like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea during the past month, ostensibly to ensure customers stay with them, even after the commercial launch of Jio.
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Some analysts expect incumbent carriers to “wait and watch”, while others see them cutting call charges soon to hold on to high-end ARPU-generating customers and protect their voice turf, which is their mainstay, accounting for over 75 per cent of revenue.
The company – which yesterday shook the market with its aggressive offerings including free voice calls and cheap data plans – has also threatened to report the operator-wise call failure numbers on its website “www.jio.com”, on a regular basis “in the spirit of putting the customer-first and complete transparency”. “The SIMs will be available at almost two lakh stores across the country, including locations where SIMs from other vendors are also sold”, sources said. The telecom giant will be giving free SIM cards to everyone with the unlimited free usage of the network until the end of this year.
Reacting to the Jio plan, Bharti Airtel said: “We welcome Reliance Jio’s entry to the digital world and wish them the very best”.
Network disruption and connectivity issues can be expected as Jio is yet to achieve interconnection with other operators, which is crucial for seamless conversations.
“There is no such plan as Rs 50/GB in Jio”.
The carriers put forth the example of the Rs 299 plan offering only 2GB of data, which sums down to Rs 150 per GB. The claims made by Reliance Jio that its data plan brings down the cost to ₹50 per GB are applicable only to high-end plans.
Reliance Jio uses a 4G-only network with VoLTE technology for phone calls.
Users should also have a smartphone that supports 4G and Voice-over LTE. Reliance Retail’s Lyf-branded smartphones are VoLTE-enabled and ready to use on the Jio network. It is your key to switch to a new operator and yet having the current mobile number.
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In the speech that found mention of his children, Isha and Akash, who are both the directors on Jio as also his wife, Nita, Ambani did not forget to make a mention of government’s ambitious programmes Digital India, Make in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A valid photo ID proof, 2 passport size photographs, and an address proof will be required at the time of availing the SIM. “However, this is likely to change quickly, as over 70 per cent of new handsets are now 4G, but it is unlikely that Jio will be able to win more than 20-30 million subscribers and 3-4 per cent revenue market share over the next year”, it added.
