Brokerage firm Morgan Stanley expects Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio to launch its 4G services over the next 3-9 months, which would help it garner revenues of $1 billion this financial year.
The firm also said that Reliance Jio will have more than 30 million subscribers by the end of this financial year, which the telco will further double up to 60 million by the next, with 1.3 times to 1.8 times higher ARPU than the industry level. Morgan Stanley said that the current voice and data realisation per user was Rs 200.
Reliance Jio already has more than half a million subscribers using its services across the country. These subscribers include Reliance group employees, partners, vendors and associates, who were given a full-scale service offering of Reliance Jio on December 28, 2015.
"Capex spend is to be front-ended, expected at over $4.5 billion in 2016-17 -- thus (it) would take the total investments into the venture to over $23 billion into the launch, among highest in the industry," it said.
The firm however said that if the Jio launch gets delayed to late 2nd half of 2016, it would mean incumbents could have a better operating environment in the short term," it said.
Reliance Industries' during the 4th quarter results announcement said the initial feedback has been very encouraging and the company has established smooth operations of all aspects of network and business.
Reliance Jio earlier revealed that the average monthly consumption per user reached 18 GB, against industry average of 150 MB, in the first month itself. It said that the consumption is increasing rapidly. Furthermore, the company said that the average voice usage touched 250 minutes within first month.
The launch is now being upgraded to others in the eco-system, the company said, adding that the test program is being progressively upgraded into commercial operations in the coming months, which means Reliance Jio would already have a couple of million subscribers into the launch.
