Indian telecom industry seems set for yet another disruption. Reports are rife that Reliance Jio is readying another onslaught on rival telecom companies with its Rs 500 feature phone. The phone appears aimed at luring 2G buyers to graduate to the company's 4G VoLTE network. Here's all the buzz about the upcoming phones.
Announcement likely on July 21 at RIL AGM
According to report in Economic Times, quoting sources, Reliance Jio may announce its Rs 500 4G VoLTE phone at parent Reliance Industries' annual general meeting (AGM), which is scheduled for July 21.
May run on Spreadtrum Communications processor
According to previous reports, the phone may run on processors from Shanghai-based Spreadtrum Communications. The company has seen a steady growth in baseband chip segment and competes with mobile chip makers such as MediaTek and Qualcomm. The company has a two-year-old partnership with Reliance Industries and has powered its LYF Flame 5 smartphone.
Reliance Jio subsiding phone by Rs 690-Rs 975
As per HSBC note, since Reliance Jio is likely to price the feature phone at Rs 500 (sub$8) this means that the company is subsidising each handset by as much as $1015 (Rs 650975). Some previous reports had pegged the Jio phone's price at Rs 1,000.
Sales to start on August 15
According to the ET report, the shipments for the 4G phone should begin from July-end or earlyAugust. The company is looking at Independence Day (August 15) as the possible launch date for the phones.
Jio's 4G phones to come bundled with unlimited voice and data plans
Analysts are also expecting Reliance Jio to announce new tariff plans with aggressive pricepoints at the upcoming AGM. The company's 84 day Dhan Dhana Dhan offer, which was announced on April 11, too is nearing close.
Reliance Jio to offer new data plans starting at Rs 80-90
Besides its Dhan Dhana Dhan offer, Reliance Jio also has other plans that start at around Rs 150 a month. The company is now speculated to introduce new traiff plans at as low as Rs 8090 for the same period with an aim to bring down the average revenue per user (ARPU),” he said. Under the Dhan Dhana Dhan plan, Jio is offering free voice, unlimited SMS and access to Jio apps, and 1or 2 GB of daily data for a onetime payment of Rs 309 or Rs 509, respectively, to its Prime members, who paid a onetime fee of Rs 99.
Jio has 112.55 million subscribers as of April 2017
Jio has 112.55 million subscribers as of April 2017, as per the company's data. Analysts expect Jio to dangle a combination of an aggressive tariff offer the 4G VoLTE feature phones to boost subscriber additions. So far, Reliance Jio is the only operator which runs a 4G VoLTE network in the country. The company's rivals such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea still are running trials on VoLTE but are still to launch it commercially.