Reliance Jio has once again extended unlimited benefits to its users whose validity was to be over by August 30, indicating that the commercial launch is still some time away.
The 4G entrant has also extended the benefits for users who haven't got the same benefits before. The move comes at a time when incumbent telecom operators have locked horns with the Mukesh Ambani-led telco on guidelines for network testing with specific parameters.
Jio users under the preview offer with validity expiration date between August 15 to August 30 have now got an extension of validity for another 30 days through auto recharge. Users can now enjoy Jio services till September 13. A source has confirmed the development. One of Jio source has also said, “Those who got the new extended offer benefits can enjoy unlimited benefits till September14.”
The source however declined to share further details on Jio’s plans and commercial launch. TT earlier reported that LYF Jio preview users who have recently got the extended unlimited offer benefits can enjoy 4G services on other devices once they cross their first 90 days on the unlimited plan.
The delay in commercial launch would help rival telcos to further cement their position in the market with new data offers and benefits. A delayed launch might also hamper Jio's plan to launch Mobile Number Portability or MNP to attract customers from other networks as under the trial launch they can't offer MNP services to gain subscribers on their network.
Also read: 138 smartphones now support Jio VoLTE, 85 of which support Jio video calls
Various media reports earlier said that Jio could launch commercial services on August 15, but there hasn't been any official communication on the same. In the meantime, Jio is expected to issue unlocked SIM cards with unlimited preview offer benefits to achieve initial target to get 75 lakh to 1 crore users on board before commercial launch. Jio is already offering completely free 4G based services to almost 2 million users.
Dear readers, do you think if Jio delays commercial launch, it will benefit incumbent operators?
