Reliance Jio 4G feature phone at almost free of cost: Reality or just hype?

jio phone

jio phone

Reliance Jio has brought out a 4G feature phone and that too for almost next to nothing. Reliance has named it JioPhone. It was unveiled on July 21 by Mukesh Ambani, owner of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). The aforementioned deposit means that the owner will basically be paying nothing for the phone. Some experts are also saying that this would cause some disruption to the Indian telephony system yet again and would change its very face to an unprecedented extent.

How will the phone perform?

It is highly probable that this is the biggest offer of them all, bigger than even the iPhones. The reasons for such an assertion are really obvious. The phone will be sold for a yearly price of INR 500 and considering the phone would be equipped with 4G connection facilities this can very well be called a throwaway price. Users can easily get access to a wide array of media such as internet on this phone apart from getting Wi-Fi facilities. It also has features such as text messaging and calls on voice command. The owner of this phone would need to pay a deposit of INR 1500 for three years. The deposit is refundable and the owner can claim it after three years if he wants to.

What effect will the phone have?

The phone is expected to create a massive surge of interest for the device, which would be at unprecedented levels indeed. In spite of all the economic progress and talks of being of the next great superpower in the world the reality is most of the people in India would still be hard pressed to buy a decent smartphone, let alone an exceptional one. As and when this phone is launched it would put smartphones within the reach of so many people out there. It can be expected based on the popularity of Jio connections, low prices, Reliance’s brand position, and the various features that the device has that this device will see high sales all across the country.

The phone is expected to affect tariff related barriers in the country to a significant extent as well. In spite of being one of the biggest telecom markets in the world, India has only around 33% people who can realistically afford a smartphone as such. In fact 66% of the people in India still have 2G smartphones and in most cases sky high costs stop them from accessing internet data on the handsets that they have. It is expected that these low-end telecom customers will be highly benefitted by this product from Reliance.

Launch of cable TV device

Reliance has also launched a cable TV device alongwith JioPhone. There has already been a significant amount of applause coming the way of JioPhone as was evident when the phone’s launch was announced to thunderous applause from RIL shareholders. Incidentally the phone was introduced during the 40th annual general meeting (AGM) of RIL. The phone was presented by Isha and Akash Ambani, the twin children of Neeta and Mukesh Ambani. Incidentally Mr. Ambani used the platform to introduce his children.