Chairman Mukesh Ambani, on Thursday, announced his plans to unveil a 4G mobile network in the country, which will make all domestic voice calls, roaming calls free and data would be cheaper by 80 percent, which is way below the market competitors.
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Reliance Jio which launched its trial phase a few months back, today announced a “free welcome offer”, starting September 5 under which it will provide free data, voice and video to users till December 31, 2016. Speaking at Reliance Industries’ 42nd annual general meeting, chairman Mukesh Ambani said Reliance Jio’s aim is to build a platform for young Indians who want to create “businesses of the future”. They will also have the cheapest 4G LTE rates in the world.
“I have always set impossible goals for the Jio team and they have always exceeded my expectations”. Incidentally, Reliance Jio is also part of the cellular association.
The telecom operators’ association today said Reliance Jio’s offer was a “compelling proposition” and good for consumers, but its tariffs can not be termed as “killer” that will do away with competition. This apart, he said the prices of smart handsets under the company’s LYF brand will start from Rs 2,999.
On aggressive pricing by Reliance Jio, Mathews said, “It is good for the customer vis a vis affordability”.
Consumers will not pay low prices for low quality, he pointed out. The company is also betting big on compelling applications and content, now worth Rs 15,000 per annum, as also superior digital service experiences.
This may lead to change in revenue model of telecom companies as data will take centre stage.
“The evolution of the mobile broadband market could have a significant impact on the voice market primarily due to cannibalisation of traditional voice revenues with voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) and other over-the-top applications”, says Analyses Mason.
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The S&P BSE telecom index plunged by 4.78 percent, TECK index dropped by 0.90 percent and realty index slipped by 0.89 percent, while auto index went up by 0.81 percent, metal index moved up by 0.60 percent and FMCG index got augmented by 0.54 percent. Bharti Airtel shares closed off the day’s low, ending 6.3 per cent lower at Rs 310.85 whereas Idea shares closed 10.5 percent lower. Find us on Facebook too!
