Reliance Jio GigaFiber with GigaTV may cost Rs 500 a month; launch in Nov

Pre-registrations for the Reliance Jio GigaFiber service would begin from August 15 on Jio.com and My Jio app. However, the service is not expected to launch before the last quarter of this month

Reliance Jio, the telecommunication service provider promoted by Mukesh Ambani, is gearing up to foray into the home broadband segment with the launch of Jio GigaFiber fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) internet service, which was announced at Reliance Industries' 41st Annual General Meeting. The pre-registrations for the service would begin from August 15 on Jio 4G LTE Network and My Jio app. However, the service is not expected to launch before the last quarter of this month.

At the RIL AGM, Ambani had announced that the Reliance Jio GigaFiber had already been under testing in several cities and it would launch simultaneously in around 1,100 cities for homes, small and medium businesses and big corporate houses. He had also announced that the pre-registration for Jio GigaFiber home broadband would open from August 15, and a location that receives most users’ interest would be among the first locations to get the service.

With the Reliance Jio GigaFiber service, the company is promising internet speed of up to 1Gbps. However, the company did not share some information like the preliminary connection cost, security deposit and details of monthly plans. But a recent news report in the Economic Times hints that the company would focus on volumes to drive demand. Therefore, it would offer broadband services bundled with DTH services at about Rs 500 a month, or effectively half the price of what other cable operators charge for similar services.

ALSO READ: Reliance Jio Phone 2, Jio GigaFiber pre-bookings start on Aug 15: Know more

As for add-on features of the Jio GigaFiber, unlike most other broadband services, this would not be limited only to internet connection. The FTTH internet service would act as an underlying technology that would allow the company to foray into home automation, home surveillance, landline and cable television services. However, in the beginning, the broadband connection would have only internet services and Jio GigaTV service, which was also announced during the RIL AGM 2018.

The GigaTV set-top-box would offer internet-based digital content services, along with access to Jio’s app suite. Interestingly, the set-top-box would also support a video calling feature, allowing users to make video calls from their televisions. It is to be seen how the feature would work as the televisions currently do not support camera, in-build or external. The GigaTV remote would be voice-enabled, which would make it work with voice commands – something similar to how Amazon’s Fire Stick remote works.

Jio Fibre to Home offering unlimited broadband net with 100Mbps speed

The Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom operator is currently running trials at select locations and is expected to launch the services by the end of this year

In a speech made at Reliance Industries' annual general meeting last year, Chairman Mukesh Ambani had indicated that the group's telecom venture, Reliance Jio Infocomm, was on track to offer Jio Fibre to Home services and it would be the company’s next big monetisation opportunity. Now, according to a news report in Livemint, the telecom operator is expected to launch the wired fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband services by the end of this year.

Earlier last year, Reliance Jio had started testing the wired broadband services in select cities. In beta trials, the company has been offering unlimited internet data at 100Mbps speed at a security deposit of Rs 4,500. The company has also been providing a special router, which connects multiple devices, with a multi-service operator (MSO) licence in place to offer TV services.

According to an earlier report in Business Standard, Jio has been planning to leverage technology to resolve some of the problems of FTTH. For instance, it’s likely to use power-line communicators -- a small plug-and-play device that extends the strong WiFi signal to rooms far away from the router. While FTTH can get problematic in large homes and offices, and Jio has been working on a strategy to use the existing electric wiring to transmit data and TV signals across the house.

Though nothing has been officially confirmed, the wired broadband services from Jio are expected to launch with a preview offer – similar to how the company launched its Jio services -- with free access to JioFiber services for 90 days. Under the complimentary offer, the JioFibre broadband services might offer a broadband speed of up to 100 Mbps, besides free access to Jio premium applications and television services.

Reliance Jio’s competitor Bharti Airtel recently announced a new 300 Mbps FTTH broadband plan at a monthly rental of Rs 2,199. The new plan comes with up to 1200 GB of data, along with free unlimited local and STD calls. The new plan comes bundled with a free subscription to Airtel’s OTT apps -- Wynk Music and Airtel TV.

As a promotional offer, Airtel is also offering a one-year free subscription to Amazon Prime Videos and 1,000 GB of additional data per month valid until October 2018. The broadband plan comes with a data rollover facility, which allows users to carry forward unused data to the next billing cycle.

ALSO READ: Airtel to bring 300Mbps FTTH broadband plan with 1200 GB data: Details here