Reliance Jio Infocomm finally has extended their 4G connections offer from the earlier friends/invite based closed circle to the general public. Now, an interested customer can directly go to Reliance Digital stores and but a LYF device which will come bundled with a Jio 4G SIM that will offer three-months of unlimited access to high-speed broadband and app-based content services.
Credit Suisse, in a note said, “even our checks showed that in at least a few stores in a couple of cities we checked, a walk-in customer buying a Lyf Handset will get a SIM connection: 3 months free data (up to 75GB, nearly unlimited (4500min) voice and free subscription for 3 months to all Jio apps (TV, music, movies, cloud storage, news, magazines etc).”
However, the agency said that the requirement of buying a phone (a new brand at that) to get the connection means that this is not meant to be the big bang mass offer yet.
According to an ET report, Lyf phones with 4G SIM cards are being sold in large-format retail stores in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, and tier-1 cities in states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Credit Suisse said that there is enough value for the early adopters as Airtel's highest 4G plan for 15GB costs Rs 3000 per month, thereby Jio's offer is worth at least Rs 9000 – while the Lyf handsets start from Rs4000.
“We suspect this should be sufficient to get a few million users on board,” it said.
The agency anticipates that the full fledged impact of RJio launch will hit only with the commercial launch, which is likely by September this year.
“For the few million users who are likely to take connections now, we would expect a sharp drop in their data recharges on their regular SIM,” the agency said, adding that overall, its negative view on telcos stays, with twin risks of upcoming spectrum auctions and RJio launch.
