Reliance Jio, which disrupted Indian telecom market with free voice services to promote 4G, today began registration for optical fibre based fixed-line broadband service.
Download speed of one gigabit per second from Reliance JioGigaFiber will make sense for millions of Internet customers in India if the speed comes with value additions. Broadband speed should not come with conditions and the price should not be more than INR 1,000 for most of them.
India’s 18 million fixed-line broadband customers have complained about quality of their broadband services in the past. BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Atria Convergence Technologies, MTNL, Hathway Cable and Spectra are some of the popular wireline broadband operators in the country.
Some of the broadband customers feel that Reliance Jio cannot offer unconditional and cost-effective broadband service in the long-run. Reliance Jio wants to focus on data speeds of up to 1Gbps – peak speed offered by service providers like ACT Fibernet and Spectra — in over 1,000 cities in India.
Broadband customers never liked the “up to speed” from any operator. They want consistent speed from broadband operators. Some of the customers do not like BSNL and MTNL due to regular repair or damage in their broadband networks. “Why we should pay if the service is not meeting our daily work,” asks a customer in Tamil Nadu.
Some customers believe that Reliance Jio’s fiber broadband price will increase after three or four quarters. The belief is due to the fact that Jio has limited competition from BSNL and Airtel, the two leading fixed broadband operators in India.
Jio claims to offer around 10 times more speed to home users. Though the company has not disclosed its price yet, however, there have been reports that it will trigger a stiff competition among telecom firms.
Price alone will not be the main factor for broadband customers to dump an existing service provider. Reliance Jio’s strategy will be to offer high quality video content – free in the initial phase — to attract customers to its network.
Reliance Jio will be launching the fiber broadband service in 1,100 cities targeting home customers, retail shops, small and medium enterprises and large enterprises. Achieving INR 1,000 plus ARPU from broadband will be attractive to Reliance Jio to boost its annual revenue.
Reliance Jio will try to focus on customer experience, speed and bundled plans, to influence customers from rival networks. Reliance Jio has 2-3 years to build the customer base in its broadband business because 5G mobile will be another game changer because of its speed and reliability.
Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh D Ambani earlier said that Jio broadband will enable smart-home solutions that connect hundreds of devices like security cameras, home appliances, lights and switches securely.
Will Mukesh Ambani, the business-man behind the success of Reliance Jio 4G, offer 1Gbps uninterrupted broadband without cut in speed — cost-effectively?
Baburajan K
