Key Highlights
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has on Tuesday expressed relief that Reliance Jio has announced "price points" for data services post April 1, which although "aggressive" will not bleed the industry.
Here's how Reliance Jio will still remain a serious competition for rival telecom operators:Data carrierWith 100 Cr GB of data traffic per month and 200 Cr voice and video minutes a day, Jio has become the largest network globally in terms of data carried and contributed to India becoming the leading country in the world for mobile data usage! Jio users are today consuming nearly as much data as the USA and 50% more data than China in a clear indication that India can and will adopt digitisation and Digital Life faster than anyone else in the world.
Largest 4G NetworkJio’s network is literally present in every city, town and village of the country with more than double the number of 4G base stations when compared to those of all the other Indian operators put together. By the end of 2017, the Jio network will be present in nearly all the cities, towns and villages of India covering 99% of our country’s population. In terms of network speeds, reports by TRAI’s speed analytics portal and other independent agencies have qualified Jio’s data speed as the best in the industry on an ongoing basis. Jio provides an average speed of 9.8 Mbps as against incumbents range of 4.2 to 5.9 Mbps.
Tariff PlansJio announced that its tariff plans will become applicable from April 1, 2017. In addition to it's offer of free voice (domestic) on its network – No Local, STD, Roaming charges, to any operator, anywhere in the country. The data tariff plans range from Rs 149 to 4,999 for long-term plans, Jio announced two unique propositions for its customers– (i) Promise of the most affordable broadband data at all times via “Everyday More-Value” offer and (ii) “Jio Prime Membership” for its 100 million plus existing customers.