Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
Reliance Jio

10 months after the commercial launch of Reliance Jio, the company stands comfortably at the first spot in the number of active 4G subscribers in the country. According to the data, released by the company in April 2017, it had 11 crore 25 lakh active subscribers in the country. Since its launch, Jio has caused a bloodbath in the domestic telecom sectors and the top telcos had to cut down on prices, which affected their profits and revenue big time.

If the reports are to be believed, Reliance Jio is gearing up for yet another price war. This time, the company is targeting the handset segment and according to the data we’re getting, it is set to create disruption all over again. Jio is now venturing into 4G VoLTE feature phones and it is expected to price them at a mark of around ₹500.

Reportedly, Jio has already placed an order of 18-20 million such phones to a China-based company and the first lot is expected to get delivered by end of July. This also shows a possibility of an official announcement on July 21, when Reliance Industries Limited will hold its Annual General Meeting.

Jio is planning to target low-end urban customers as well as the rural customers. According to the reports, to retail the phone at ₹500, the company will be providing a subsidy of around ₹700-₹800. However, for a company, which has invested over 1.87 lakh crores in Jio, taking another such risk does not seem to be a difficult task. With this, Jio will be able to target the segment of 2G phone users, who are not willing to switch to a smartphone due to a high price point of lack of usability.

The first wave of disruption caused by Jio targeted the high-end customers with latest 4G smartphones, which in large included the youth. Now, with the second possible disruption, Jio is all set to target the low-end customers using their phones for the sole purpose of calling. Just like the first phase, this is again expected to cost a lot of subscribers to the incumbent telcos.

Along with launching new phone series, Jio is also planning to announce a number of new plans for the existing customers. Currently, Jio provides unlimited calling with 1 or 2 GB data to its subscribers at a price of ₹309 and ₹509 respectively. According to the reports, it might announce more plans costing as low as ₹80 or ₹90 for limited data usage and unlimited calling.

We are excited to see yet another battle for survival from the Indian telcos. Stay tuned for the complete coverage.

By Prithviraj Singh Chauhan

Part time journalist, full-time observer. Editor-in-Chief at The Indian Wire. I cover updates related to business and startups.