Tech Telecom

At the Reliance Industries 40th Annual General Meeting, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of the company has announced the world’s most powerful feature phone. Dubbed as the JioPhone, this feature phone is aimed to make the 2G feature phone obsolete.

Thanks to the Reliance Jio’s JioPhone, July 21 will go down as one of the most important days in the history of telecom in India and the world. Never before has a product or service come that could empower such a large number of people. In this case, it could change lives for over 50 crore Indians who are now using feature phones.

“We plan to collect full refundable Rs 1500 one-time payment from JioPhone users. A JioPhone users can use it for 36 months and can get full refund by returing the used phone,” he said.

So there’s a Rs 1,500 price tag already attached to the Reliance JioPhone. Jio has made all voice calls, SMS, etc, free on this JioPhone. But JioPhone users will get special recharge packs, instead of the more expensive ones for the regular Jio users. There’s a special Rs 153 recharge for JioPhone users, which will offer them unlimited data (FUP is 500 MB or 0.5 GB per day), unlimited voice calls and SMS and lasts for a month.

But remember out of this, Rs 1500 is refundable and can be claimed after three years. Effectively the cost of the JioPhone is Rs 500 per year, though this can be reclaimed by the user. JioPhone will go on beta from August 15, but pre-bookings will open from August 24.

The JioPhone will go on sale in September, and according to RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani they will have around 5 million units is the target they have set themselves every week. However, given the price of this phone and unlimited data, voice calls on a feature phone, the demand for this will be very high.

“Voice will always be free on JioPhone. 50 crore feature phone users don’t have basic internet and applicaton. I beleive, today every young Indian should have information access at his finger tips that is what the JioPhone enables. To enable a digital life, all need access to data at affordble. Starting 15 August, I am declaring digital freedom for all feature phone users,” Ambani said.

As rumoured earlier, the JioPhone comes with the same rumoured specifications. The phone supports India’s 22 regional languages and has a 2.4-inch QVGA display, along with a four-way navigation button.

The phone has support for 4G LTE & VoLTE, and the NFC connectivity will be added to the phone later this year. The company did not disclose the specifications of the phone, but it will have support for microSD card, FM Radio, rear camera, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

If users want to stream video content from Jio apps to their TV at home, this package might be insufficient. Ambani suggests such users get the Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan plan at Rs 309 per month. This is a bait a lot of prospective users will not be able to ignore.

Mukesh Ambani said that optic fiber-based broadband service is a next big monetisation opportunity for Jio. “Jio remains on track to bring optic fiber connectivity to enterprises, home and public place. Most infratsucture is already in place.”