HIGHLIGHTS
- JioFiber speeds will start at 100 Mbps for a basic plan and go up to 1 Gbps for premium ones
- A basic plan will cost ₹699/month offering 150 GB data and top plan will cost ₹8,499 offering 5000 GB
NEW DELHI : Reliance Jio on Thursday formally launched its wired broadband JioFiber, hoping its bundle of free services and superfast internet speeds will help it replicate the success it notched up as India’s youngest and only profitable mobile services provider.
With a basic monthly plan for ₹699 and 100 GB (plus 50 GB of promotional data) at 100 Mbps speed, JioFiber also offers free voice calls and video conferencing through a compatible TV and high-speed gaming and content sharing across the home network.
Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani had at the company’s annual general meeting last month sparked off India’s broadband wars by announcing the wired internet service, which hopes to replicate the runaway success of its Jio mobile service.
Earlier this week, rival Bharti Airtel also announced a converged digital entertainment platform, Xstream. Airtel Xstream stick, priced at ₹3,999, is an Android-based OTT (over-the-top) stick that also provides access to Airtel’s movie roster and OTT library, as well as Airtel’s Wynk Music’s catalogue.
However, compared to rivals Airtel and ACT, Jio’s offering is cheaper. Airtel’s basic plan for ₹799 offers 100 GB internet at up to 40 Mbps speed and access to Airtel Xstream. ACT Fibernet offers 500GB data at 100 Mbps for ₹749.
JioFiber speeds will start from up to 100 Mbps for the basic plan and go all the way up to 1 Gbps for premium plans. A basic plan will cost ₹699 a month offering 150 GB data, while the top plan will cost ₹8,499 offering 5,000 GB data, the company said on Thursday.
The customer will also have to make a one-time payment of ₹2,500 at the time of getting a connection, out of which ₹1,500 is security deposit and ₹1,000 for installation which is non-refundable. Customers will also have to buy compatible devices if they wish to use services such as gaming, home networking, and virtual reality.
All plans across the price spectrum will enable gaming where your smartphone would become the gaming controller. Content sharing across the home network will also be possible, the company said. Through the home network, the customer can share photos, music and videos across devices.
The most expensive plans—Diamond for ₹2,499, Platinum for ₹3,999 and Titanium ₹8,499 a month—would also enable immersive virtual reality experience and offer premium content like first-day-first-show movies and sports content.
In fact, JioFiber customers who opt for Jio Welcome offer and buy annual plans above ₹1,299 a month will get a TV and 4K set-top box free. The Welcome Offer for the cheapest plan also comes bundled with Jio music and cinema. More expensive plans will come bundled with “leading OTT apps”, the company said.
However, it did not specify whether customers can also access apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime as part of the Welcome Offer.
“JioFiber will be disruptive only if the JioTV content comes bundled with the broadband. That clarity is not there right now. If the basic plan for ₹699 does not come bundled with good content, then it will not be very disruptive,” a Mumbai-based analyst said requesting anonymity.
The launch, however, is expected to consolidate the underpenetrated market which has been dominated by small wired broadband providers so far.
As of May-end, India had only 18.45 million wired broadband users as against 562.52 million wireless broadband subscribers, data from the telecom regulator showed, leaving significant room for expansion. The largest private operator in the wired broadband market is Bharti Airtel, which has 2.39 million users. India has 322 wired broadband providers, most of them small and local operators.
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