Prior to the expected launch on August 15, Reliance Jio seems to have fallen well behind the target of 5 million customers, especially because it has acquired only a few more than 1 million subscribers on its network irrespective of providing benefits such as unlimited data, voice, and SMS usage.
Even the launch on August 15 is unlikely to be a full-fledged launch. According to Reliance Industries officials, who wish to remain unnamed, several retailers are yet to receive their retailer SIM cards. They are also deprived of the necessary back-end distribution team for distributing the SIM cards. The network is also not ready for a launch in several states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
However, the company may reveal some postpaid plans after the August 15 launch. Also, there are plans for the company to introduce MNP facility to customers who wish to join Jio networks under exclusive preview offer. The company is said to have tested the MNP facility among its own employees in Kolkata.
Introducing MNP will help Reliance Jio to get high ARPU customers from rival networks who pay more for quality services in a short while. Most people use Jio SIM cards as a secondary SIM, especially because they do not want to lose their main numbers. An MNP can solve such hurdles to a large scale. Coupled with unlimited data and calls for three months, this MNP offer of Jio will be a threat to other players in the market.
Meantime, it’s also important to remember that Reliance LYF smartphones are getting negative feedbacks and reviews from the end-users. The device is infamous for its poor customer service, poor build quality, and half-baked software.
Meanwhile, Jio has also tried to capture the audience by extending the preview offer to Samsung customers. However, most of the Samsung smartphones that come bundled with Jio SIM cards are dual-SIM smartphones, enabling the users to use Jio SIM on SIM card slot 2. Jio is now targeting Apple users, who are premium users and pays more than the other users, with soon to be launched ‘Preview offer for Apple devices'.
“Jio can soon announce attractive post-paid plans with up to 5-10 times more data and free voice, video minutes, compared to other post-paid plans available in the market. Free benefits or Zero rental can be availed for first few months after taking a connection or porting to Jio, depending on plans,” said a source.
Also Read : Jio MNP services
This too could become a threat to other leading operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea, who are now the dominant players in the post-paid segment. However, the handset compatibility can be a hindrance to Jio's plan to disrupt post-paid segment. Jio’s extensive reach and pan-India presence can solve this hindrance and it can insist the customers to upgrade to 4G compatible devices.
Would you port in to Jio ? Do let us know via comments.
Note: This story is based on multiple sources.
