Mukesh Ambani has finally unveiled the much awaited Jio Fiber plan in the company’s 42nd Annual General Meeting on 12th August. The company has come up with a holistic plan to dominate carriage, content and commerce. As per an article by Economic Times, “Jio Giga Fiber will essentially offer lifetime free voice calls from landline phones and high speed broadband, besides free high definition TV and dish with minimum subscription of Rs 700 per month.”
The fiber services will be launched on 5th September this year which is third anniversary of Reliance Jio’s launch. The broadband service speed will start at 100 Mbps minimum speed and will go up to 1 Gbps. The price of the service is in the range of 700 rupees to 10,000 rupees per month. The top end plan will provide broadband, Jio Home TV and Jio’s Internet of Things (IoT) services.
The customers who subscribe to Jio’s forever plans will get 4k LED television and 4k set top box for free. The company will also bundle premium Over the Top (OTT) content providers subscription in its plans.
One of the big ticket announcements of the company was to allow the user’s watch a movie on the day of release. “Also, for the first time in India, we are introducing a disruptive concept for watching new movies. Premium Jio Fiber customers will be able to watch movies in their living rooms the same day these movies are released in theatres,” said Mukesh Ambani.
The company also announced unlimited international calling plan for United States and Canada for a price of 500 rupees per month. The international calling rates in India will be one of the lowest in the world and one tenth of the prevailing rates.
The fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service will be rolled out in as many as 1,600 cities simultaneously. The number of targeted homes is 7.5 crore. The company is using FTTH instead of Fixed Wireless Broadband powered by 5G which is being used globally. According to company sources, FTTH is a one-time investment for future profits and therefore it will use this technology. Wireless broadband will be used in congested and remote areas given the difficulty in laying out fiber in these areas.
As of now, the big players in broadband service providers are Airtel, Hathway and many other smaller players in many different cities. As of April 30 this year, there are 1.84 crore broadband connections in the country with state owned BSNL in the lead. BSNL has 91.5 lakh broadband subscribers while Airtel has 23.8 lakh.
These companies have kept their prices relatively high, with an average connection costing Rs. 1000 per month. Also, these companies provide data through a wired copper cable, while Jio will be providing it through Fiber to the Home (FTTH) technology.
FTTH could be 100 times faster than traditional modem connections. The average internet speed in the country is much slower than the prevailing international standards. India ranks 97th globally in internet speed rankings. The optical fiber network will help people get high-speed internet and the country will be able to compete with international standards.
Reliance is known for its aggressive pricing strategies in the market. It was the first company to come up with a plan for free incoming calls in India. Reliance Jio entered the market in late 2016, which had with its low pricing captured more than one-third of the Indian market within a short span of only two and a half years.
