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

Reliance Jio postpaid users can get JioFi 4G router for Rs 499: Here is how

The JioFi cashback offer is valid only for new Jio postpaid subscribers on the purchase of JioFi 4G router. The cashback offer is applicable from today onwards i.e. July 3

Reliance Jio , a Mukesh Ambani-owned telecommunication service provider, on July 2 announced Rs 500 cashback offer on its JioFi 4G wireless portable dongle, which brings down the effective cost of ownership from Rs 999 to Rs 499. However, the JioFi cashback offer is valid only for new Jio postpaid subscribers on the purchase of JioFi 4G router. The cashback offer is applicable from today onwards i.e. July 3.

Here are the steps to avail JioFi cashback offer:

Step 1: Purchase JioFi 4G router and Jio postpaid connection by paying the device’s full amount and refundable deposit for the connection

Step 2: Use the device with Jio postpaid connection for 12 months

Step 3: After successful completion of 12 months billing cycles, the cashback of Rs 500 would be credited to user’s account that can then be adjusted in future bills

Currently, Jio only has Rs 199 postpaid plan in which the company offers 25GB of 4G data, along with free voice calls, SMS, national roaming and free access to Jio app suite, which includes Jio music, Jio movies, JioTV, Jio newspaper, etc.

ALSO READ: Reliance Jio double dhamaka offer: Know new plans, data offers, discounts

The Rs 199 postpaid plan also offers international roaming in select countries at Rs 2 per minute for voice, Rs 2 per megabyte (MB) for data and Rs 2 per SMS. It also comes with an add-on roaming pack of Rs 500 a day for unlimited voice, data and SMS.

Reliance to invest Rs 600 bn in Jio this year, may borrow Rs 1 trn more

Subscriber additions, while suppressing incumbent telecom operators, will continue to remain top priority, say analysts

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is likely to invest another Rs 600 billion this year in its telecom business Reliance Jio Infocomm with an emphasis on faster rollout of broadband services and wireless expansion, Livemint reported, quoting anonymous company sources.

The sources have also been quoted as saying that Reliance Jio might borrow up to Rs 1 trillion in addition to the above-mentioned investment. Jio and RIL spokespersons did not comment on queries about the investment.

“Management made it very clear that their focus in the near term is to retain and grow their subscriber base and they would respond to market pricing. Essentially the implication was that incumbents would need to raise tariffs, but this would effectively lead to loss of market share for incumbents as JIO would offer the best 'value' to subscribers and hence continue to see large subscriber additions,” noted JP Morgan in their recent report on RIL.

The report further stated that JIO is expected to launch its broadband business with a pricing strategy similar to that of its telecom arm, given its focus is on creating a new market.

While JIO’s average revenue per user (ARPU) fell to Rs 137 from Rs 154 in the last quarter of 2017-18, it still remains better than that of Airtel and Idea cellular. JIO also managed to add almost 9 million subscribers during the quarter.

“Jio is expected to remain aggressive to gain market share, which could keep industry revenue under pressure and return ratios of incumbents suppressed,” noted an India Equity Research in a report on Monday.

JioFiber, the wired broadband arm, has started offering what they claim to be 'ultra-high-speed' fibre to home (FTTH) broadband connections with 1.1 terabytes (TB) of free data at speeds of 100 megabits per second (mbps) in select markets in the country already. However, commercial services are likely to be rolled out in the second-half of the year.

The company currently claims more than 300,000 km of optical fibre network in the country and the company is expected to target over 100 million households across the country with the service.

Flipkart lists Reliance JioFi WiFi hotspot JMR815 at Rs 999: Details here

JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot is capable of attaining a download speed of up to 150Mbps, and upload speed of 50Mbps. It features a circular design and allows up to 32 simultaneous connections

Reliance Jio has added a new 4G LTE hotspot model to its portfolio of JioFi devices. The new model, dubbed the JioFi JMR815, is currently available on Flipkart at a price of Rs 999. However, the JioFi is not yet listed on Jio’s online portal.

The JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot, according to the Flipkart listing page, is capable of attaining a download speed of up to 150Mbps, and upload speed of 50Mbps. The device features a circular design, unlike the oval design of the predecessor.

It allows up to 32 simultaneous connections – 31 WiFi and 1 USB – to connect over Jio’s 4G network for accessing the internet. The device also allows HD voice calls and video calls on non-4G phones via Jio 4G Voice app.

JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot JMR815In terms of features, the device has power buttons, along with WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) button for instant connection. There are notification lights for battery, 4G connectivity and signal strength. It is powered by an ALT3800 processor and supports 4G connectivity at FDD-Band 3, Band 5, and TDD-Band 40 – supported by Reliance Jio.

JioFi 4G WiFi hotspot JMR815The new JioFi hotspot device also sports a a microSD

card slot to augment storage to up to 64GB. The device is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery.