The Reliance Jio on Monday launched a new set of tariff plans for Jio Fiber starting at Rs 399 per month followed by Rs 699, Rs 999, and Rs 1,499 per month. As part of the new offer, Jio Fiber offers a 30-day free trial option to the new consumers activating their services from September 1. As part of the trial duration, Jio will provide 150 Mbps of limitless internet, a 4K set-top box with access to the top 10 paid OTT apps without charge and free voice calling. it’ll additionally offer the option of taking the service again, have to the customer not be satisfied with the service.
In terms of internet speed, Rs 399 plan offers a limitless net with 30 Mbps, Rs 699 at 100 Mbps, Rs 999 at 150 Mbps, and Rs 1,499 at 300 Mbps speed. Though all of the plans will include unlimited voice calling, the Rs 999 and Rs 1,499 plans can even provide 11 OTT apps and 12 OTT apps respectively, together with the Jio Fiber subscription.
Those plans are set to heat competition in the fixed broadband (FBB) space further which gained traction after the large-scale work-from-home culture that started post Covid-19 induced lock down. FBB, which by far has been an entertainment medium, is now becoming a need, with people consuming large amounts of data not only for entertainment, but also for work.
India is a below-penetrated wired market for telephony and broadband. FBB subscribers have grown at a CAGR of 4% to 19 million and mobile broadband has had a sub growth of 53.9% to 606 million in the past six years.
FBB penetration here is just 6.1% towards 80-95% for many developed countries. China has an FBB penetration of 86%, according to a current report by ICICI Securities. FBB+OTT viewing is a premium service in India, which costs over Rs 1,400 consistent with the month in evaluation to less than Rs 300 for cable and direct-to-home (DTH) service.
At present, one of the private FBB providers, Bharti Airtel is a significant player with 2.4 million subscribers and 12.6% market share. Even if Bharti has extended its presence to 111 cities from 87 cities in FY17, Jio plans to roll out Jio Fiber services to 1,600 towns and cities.
The Jio director Akash Ambani said: “JioFiber is already the largest provider in the country with over a million connected houses. After making India the most important and quickest growing country in mobile connectivity with Jio, JioFiber will propel India into global broadband leadership, providing broadband to over 1,600 towns and cities.”
