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Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani today announced free voice calling, zero roaming charges and cheaper data tariffs for Jio customers. Ambani also announced a ‘free welcome offer’ for Jio customers from September 5 till December 31. R Jio will offer users data services free for four months, after which it will offer 10 tariff plans starting at Rs 19 a day for occasional users, Rs 149 a month for low data users and Rs 4,999 a month for heavy data users. Devoting an hour of his speech at the RIL’s 42th Annual General Meeting, the billionaire industrialist said Jio is targeting 100 million users in a shortest possible time. The company also announced “super-affordable” handsets under the LYF brand starting Rs 2999. Ambani said: “Customers should pay for only one service, voice or data not both…. Worldwide operators charge only for data, and voice and messages are free… All voice calls for Jio customer will be absolutely free… The era of paying for voice calls is ending. Jio will usher India into the new era.” He said roaming charges will also be nil across India for Jio customers. Stating that the data must be “affordable”, he said Jio’s base rate will be one-tenth of the prevailing data rates. “In our data plans, the effective rates will be 5p per MB or Rs 50 per GB… The more data you use, the lower will be the rate,” he said. Differentiating Jio’s 4G services from others in the market, he said that pricing strategy should be “simple” for every India. “There are 22,000 telecom tariffs across country. Jio’s pricing strategy only has 10 main plans,” he said promising that Jio users would also not face any blackout days such as Diwali and New Year when operators tend to charge double. Ambani also announced a discount offer for students under which they will get 25 percent more data on Jio’s tariffs. Under the free welcome offer, which Ambani termed as the largest introductory offer anywhere in the world, the company is offering free data, voice and video “to everyone absolutely free” starting 5 September till 31 December, 2016. The AGM comes at a time when the new entrant is locked in a dispute with the existing cellular operators on the points of interconnect. Reliance Jio has accused incumbent players of not releasing sufficient interconnection ports during its test run of services while the existing operators (under the aegis of COAI) have dubbed its testing of network as an effort to bypass regulations. At the previous AGM in June 2015, Ambani had stated that 2016-17 would be the first full year of operation of the company’s telecom arm, Reliance Jio Infocomm. Besides shedding light on the telecom venture, he may spell out completion details of the $30 billion worth of petrochemical and downstream projects. Even as it is engaged in a spat with incumbent operators over points of inter-connection, Reliance Jio has been expanding its free 90-day unlimited calls and high-speed mobile broadband trial offer to 4G smartphone users of brands such as HTC, Intex, Vivo, Gionee, Karbonn and Lava. Jio service is already available on Sony, Sansui, Videocon, LG, Samsung, Micromax, Panasonic, Asus, TCL, Alcatel 4G smartphones, and the industry estimates that its reach may now extend to about potentially 75-80 per cent 4G phone users. Under the offer, the owner of a 4G-compliant handset from any of these brands can carry it to Reliance Digital stores, including Digital Xpress and Digital Xpress Mini, and other retail stores for a free Reliance Jio SIM. At the store, the customer is required to share the code generated on his phone with the help of a Jio mobile app. He can then get the Jio SIM, subject to submission of KYC documents. Under the preview offer, customers can enjoy unlimited access to Jio services for 90 days from activation of Jio SIM. The 4G service includes unlimited voice calls and video calls, SMS, 4G mobile broadband and applications like JioOnDemand (for movies), JioLive (for live TV shows) and JioXpressNews, among others. As Reliance Jio’s commercial launch nears, telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea have also slashed tariffs and bundled free calls with data to woo customers and drive mass market adoption. Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited.
Watch: Reliance Jio launched, Ambani does datagiri, telecom war hots up
Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani is likely to give an update tomorrow on Jio’s 4G launch and signal culmination of the $ 42-billion capex cycle it had earmarked for its other businesses three years ago.
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Operators have obligation to provide interconnectivity: Ambani
Pointing to 5 crore call failures suffered by RJio customers last week due to interconnectivity issues with existing networks, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani today asked incumbent operators to fulfil their “obligation” without delay.
“Last week Jio customers suffered 5 crore call failures to other networks due to insufficient interconnect capacity… operators should to fulfill their obligation to provide interconnectivity without delay so that no Jio customer suffers,” Ambani said.
He said operators also have an obligation not to limit customers’ right to migrate to Jio using mobile number portability.
Reliance Jio has accused incumbent players of not releasing sufficient interconnection ports during its test run of services, while the existing operators (under the aegis of COAI) have dubbed its testing of network as an effort to bypass regulations.
Industry reacts to Jio launch
Industry says the competition moral in India should be upheld. Hailing the launch of Reliance Jio, experts said that the network is affordable and will connect the entire nation. “Users won’t pay anything for roaming on Jio network,” Ambani said today morning while addressing the Reliance annual general meeting.
In fact, Reliance announced unlimited data for users at night. But how feasible is it? Experts say instead of looking for faults, lets wait and watch. Adding that such launches help the industry evolve, industry experts said that this promotes healthy competition and we are realising PM’s dream of Digital India.
Here are 5 key takeaways you need to know about the Reliance Jio
- Jio won’t charge for voice calls or for roaming calls within India. Customers should be charged for voice or data, but not both, said Ambani.
- Data prices for Jio are roughly one-fifth of what customers have been charged so far — one GB of data will cost Rs 50.
- Jio won’t follow the industry practice of blackout days – occasions like Diwali when free SMS offers are not applicable because the volume tends to be too high.
- From 5 September, anybody can sign up for Jio services from 5 September and no charges will apply till 31 December
- Competitors have complained that Jio, while claiming to be in beta phase, has used scarce fourth-generation of 4G airwaves to poach customers by offering them free-of-cost trials, Gadget 360 said.
Here to inspire each other: Ambani
“No doubt all of us operators will compete vigorously in market. We will inspire each other to rise to greater heights, while doing so. Incumbent operators have significant advantages over new entrance since incumbents have well established networks. Healthy competition is the lifeblood of a vibrant economy, its the engine that drives innovation and customer value. Today, I set a target fr team JIO to acquire 100 mln customers on JIO network in shortest possible time & create new world record,” says Mukesh Ambani at #RelianceAGM.
From 5th September, India will change forever: Mukesh Ambani
“I invite you to come and be this change together and ‘jio’ together. My dear shareholders, we are meeting at a momentous time in India’s history.”
No surge pricing: Ambani
With #RelianceJio there will be no more blackout days; no surge pricing on busy days pic.twitter.com/JbDGg0GWA2
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
“Reliance Jio is India’s only all-IP, data-strong, made-for-mobile-video, Only 4G LTE, future-ready network. This is the lowest data pricing in the world,” says Mukesh Ambani at #RelianceAGM.
#RelianceJio I believe that these are the absolute lowest data rates anywhere in the world: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/Tv8yFormwC
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio has price points starting from Rs 19 for occasional data users, to a monthly Rs 149 plan for light data users: Mukesh Ambani
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio From 5th Sept to Dec 31, 2016 Jio data, voice will be totally free: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/sItp8aHkD0
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio is India’s only all-IP, data-strong, made-for-mobile-video, Only 4G LTE, future-ready network: M Ambani pic.twitter.com/tvbZIbojkp
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
“Reliance Jio is India’s only all-IP, data-strong, made-for-mobile-video, Only 4G LTE, future-ready network. This is the lowest data pricing in the world,” says Mukesh Ambani at #RelianceAGM.
#RelianceJio I believe that these are the absolute lowest data rates anywhere in the world: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/Tv8yFormwC
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio has price points starting from Rs 19 for occasional data users, to a monthly Rs 149 plan for light data users: Mukesh Ambani
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio From 5th Sept to Dec 31, 2016 Jio data, voice will be totally free: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/sItp8aHkD0
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio is India’s only all-IP, data-strong, made-for-mobile-video, Only 4G LTE, future-ready network: M Ambani pic.twitter.com/tvbZIbojkp
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
‘Jio is the creation by the young and for the young’
“Jio’s base data tariff will cost one-tenth of existing rates being charged currently; we will charge Rs 50 per GB, Rs 149 a month for light data users; Students to get 25% more data,” says Ambani at #RelianceAGM
All voice calls for Jio customers will be absolutely free
“No Jio customer will ever pay for voice calls to any network in India; roaming charges will also be zero. Jio’s pricing is about solving customers’ pain points; customer should pay only for one service — voice or data; All voice calls for Jio customers will be absolutely free. Reliance Jio will move India from data shortage to data abundance,” says Mukesh Ambani at Reliance AGM.
‘No roaming charges’
Mukesh says current market price is Rs 4,000-10,000 per GB. ‘But Reliance Jio will have a base rate which is 1/10th of this," adds RIL chairman.
#BREAKING #RelianceJio will also carry no roaming charges - Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/4wrXt3YXyn
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
‘More you use, lower the data’
“Reliance Jio has price points starting from Rs 19 for occasional data users, to a monthly Rs 149 plan for light data users. I believe that these are the absolute lowest data rates anywhere in the world. Reliance Jio data plans go even further: 5paise/MB or Rs 50/GB. More data you use, the lower the rate,” says Mukesh Ambani.
#RelianceJio has price points starting from Rs 19 for occasional data users, to a monthly Rs 149 plan for light data users: Mukesh Ambani
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
We have called it #Jio because Jio means to live: Mukesh Ambani at #RelianceAGM #RelianceJio pic.twitter.com/JhJQtEYKRG
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio’s mission is to meet the exploding need of data for India: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/VCZ7MyAn2z
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio’s mission is to meet the exploding need of data for India: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/VCZ7MyAn2z
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
#RelianceJio’s mission is to meet the exploding need of data for India: Mukesh Ambani pic.twitter.com/VCZ7MyAn2z
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
“World is at the beginning of a digital revolution,” says Mukesh Ambani. “India cannot afford to be left behind,” adds RIL chairman. “Jio will transform the lives for Indians, it will realise potential of every Indian. With JIO we aim to enrich life of every Indian. Demand for digital oxygen, data, is increasing.”
We have called it #Jio because Jio means to live: Mukesh Ambani at #RelianceAGM #RelianceJio pic.twitter.com/JhJQtEYKRG
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 1, 2016
Chairman of RIL, Mukesh Ambani addresses shareholders. Says: Reliance Jio is dedicated to realising PM Narendra Modi’s digital movement
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RIL: #RelianceJio is dedicated to realising PM Modi’s digital movement. #RelianceAGM pic.twitter.com/562yKkLkCd
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) September 1, 2016
Chennai Ranks #1 in Challan Checks: ACKO Insights for Smarter Car and Two Wheeler Insurance Decisions
Chennai leads India in challan checks, with drivers checking their e-challans over 5 times a month on average. Helmet non-compliance is the most broken rule, accounting for 34.8% of all traffic offences in Chennai. Regular digital challan checks help drivers avoid hefty fines, promote safe driving, and improve insurance premiums.
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