Jio Phone, Free With Rs. 1,500 Deposit, Unlimited 4G Data, Launched by Mukesh Ambani
Gadgets 360 21Jul.2017 11:50
Highlights
Reliance Jio announced its feature phone on Friday
Plans start at Rs. 153 with unlimited data, voice, and SMS
You pay Rs. 1,500 for the phone, which is fully refundable after 3 years
At the Reliance AGM on Friday, Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced JioPhone was introduced as "India ka Smartphone", for an "effective price of Rs. 0" - but you have to pay a "fully refundable" Rs. 1,500 deposit, refunded after three years.
Although Reliance Jio launched in India in September, the company's offering has been restricted to smartphone users as it is a 4G only network, and to make calls, a phone has to support the VoLTE technology, which is usually not found on basic phones. The company aims to change that with the JioPhone, which comes with 4G VoLTE support. The JioPhone will include access to apps like JioCinema, JioTV, and JioMusic.
The phone will be available from August 15 - for testing, in beta, and for pre-booking from August 24. Users who pre-book will be able to buy the phone from September, on a first come first serve basis. It will come with a couple of different data packs. Users can either pay Rs. 153 per month, for which they will get free voice and SMS, and unlimited data, along with Jio apps, or they can pay Rs. 309 per month, to get all this, plus the support for mirroring your screen on a TV, via a cable that can even be plugged into CRT TVs. After three years, you can return the phone, and get a full refund on the deposit.
Our network continues to rapidly expand. Jio, in the next 12 months, will cover 99 percent of the population. India's 4G coverage will be more than its 2G coverage," he added. To meet the need for device affordability, the company realised it would have to release a 4G VoLTE feature phone, as even an entry level smartphone costs between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 4,500, Ambani said.
