Reliance Jio To Launch On September 5, Will Offer Free Services Till December 31

Reliance Jio, the wireless telecom service of Reliance Industries Ltd., will start commercial operations on September 5. RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani also announced free services from September 5 to December 31, sending stocks of rivals like Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Idea Cellular Ltd. down over 6 percent.

Once the free trial period is over, Jio will introduce 10 tariff plans starting Rs 149 a month and going up to Rs 4,999 per month, Ambani told shareholders at the annual general meeting. All domestic voice calls will be free on the Jio network, and effective data tariff for Jio customers will be Rs 50 per gigabyte, Ambani added.

Ambani added that all text messages on the Jio network will be free and that users won’t have to pay any roaming charges.

Here are some of the other key highlights from Ambani’s speech:

• Reliance Digital will introduce a line of affordable smartphones under the “LYF” brand starting at Rs 2,999.
  
• Jiofi personal routers for 2G/3G will be available at Rs 1,999.
  
• No ‘blackout days’ where regular offers are not available.
• Availability of real time billing details.
• Jio applications including JioTV, JioCinema, JioMusic, JioMagazine, JioMoney, will be offered free for one year as part of a “welcome offer.”
• Jio will give 25 percent more data to students.

Ambani also lashed out at his telecom rivals, accusing them of denying Reliance Jio interconnect facility on their networks. He said that incumbent operators had a legal obligation to provide interconnect facilities, and that companies can’t stop any of their users from migrating to the Jio network.

Ambani exhorted the employees of Jio to reach the 100 million customers milestone in record time.

Also Read:
Telecom Lobby Welcomes Reliance Jio But Questions Ambiguity Around Commercial Launch
And Then There Were Three: Fitch Says Jio Will Prompt Consolidation And Only A Few Will Survive
RIL Shareholders Back Jio’s Free Calls And Cheap Data Strategy
Reliance Jio Offers Free Voice Calls, Zero Roaming Cost: Mukesh Ambani’s Full Speech At RIL AGM