Telecom network operator Reliance Jio Infocomm has started offering 4G LTE phone connections to its employees, to test for possible glitches.
On December 27, the Mumbai-based telecom venture of billionaire Mukesh Ambani will offer at least 70,000 more connections to its employees, bringing the number of test connections to 100,000, IANS reported. December 28 is the birth anniversary Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Group.
“My team is of the sample size of India,” Ambani told the top leadership of the company, explaining the rationale of an employee launch on December 27, distinct from a commercial one later.
The company aims to rope in 100 million subscribers in 2016-17 for the 4G service.
Reliance Jio 4G will positively impact the growth pattern of 4G smartphones in India. On the other hand, the 4G business of Mukesh Ambani will negatively impact the fortunes of Sunil Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Anil Ambani, among others.
The launch of Reliance Jio 4G services will drive the 4G smartphone in India in 2016. 4G smartphones have already overtaken 3G smartphones in October 2015, according to IDC.
The credit profiles of the top-four Indian telecoms will come under pressure amid competition, larger Capex requirements and debt-funded M& — thanks to the entry of Reliance Jio, said Fitch Ratings.
“We see the Indian telecom industry blended tariff falling by 5-6 percent as Jio’s entry will arrest the increase in data average revenue per user (ARPU) despite rising data usage, and as voice ARPU will continue to fall due to cannibalisation by data,” said Fitch Ratings.
The December 27 rollout would not be a commercial offering of Jio services. The employees would be able to test out 4G enabled mobile services like Jio Chat, Jio Money, Jio Play and Jio-on-Demand. An application called OOKla app would come embedded with the connection.
On December 27, Mukesh Ambani has invited the company employees for a interactive show in Navi Mumbai, which will see performances by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and musician AR Rahman. The program would also be shown simultaneously in 1,000 centers across India.
The company wants to validate its Jio services through employees, rather than launch it directly to customers.
Employees would be able to pay for meals at the Jio Headquarters in Reliance Corporate Park (RCP) in Mumbai through JioMoney. All shops and restaurants at RCP would honor JioMoney. Employees who adopt the technology would be able to enjoy Internet speeds of up to 50-60 Mbps.
The company, which will associate with the State Bank of India (SBI), aims to tie up with one million merchants who would honor Jio payments.
Baburajan K
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