---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "बिमल प्रसाद [email protected] [samukhya]" <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2016 12:43:33 +0530 Subject: [samukhya] Reliance Jio: Leading to Analog India, not Digital India... To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, soochana Adhikar network <[email protected]>
After some quick analysis, It become clear that it is not for data users who are constantly browsing the internet, but instead, it is actually for those who are constantly chattering on phone. 1) First & foremost, it is portrayed as the messiah for data and being highlighted that the data charges on Reliance Jio is as low as Rs 50/GB. This is actually highly misleading because that low rate of Rs 50/GB would be applicable only when you buy the high end monthly pack of Rs 4,999 per month!! In that pack, you get around 75 GB which roughly translates to Rs 50/GB. But in a normal pack like Rs 499 per month, you get only 4 GB, and per GB mote than ₹100 . And if you consider the Rs 19 pack which gives 100 MB, it means around Rs 190/GB. 2) In the entry level package of Rs 149 per month, although you get unlimited voice calls (which is highly appreciated), you get only 300 MB of data. So, it is definitely not for a data user, but for someone who hardly uses internet, and wants unlimited calling. 3) The Rs 19/day pack is marketed as a chota pack which can cater to casual users who want to browse internet on a need basis. But there is nothing revolutionary about it because it offers only 100 MB for Rs 19 & the validity is 1 day. Suppose I am on the Rs 149/month pack and I exhaust my 300 MB within few days and one fine day I want to book an Ola cab or watch a 1 min YouTube video, then I must shell out a minimum of Rs 19. (There is no pack smaller than that). But if I am on Airtel/ Idea/ Vodafone, I can go for their Rs 9 pack and get 35 MB. i.e Instead of spending Rs 19 on Reliance Jio to book an Ola cab, I can recharge Rs 9 on Airtel & get the work done. Also, it is to be noted that Airtel/ Idea offer 100 MB of 4G data for Rs 24 which has a validity of 3 days, which I feel is much better than Jio's 100 MB of 4G data for Rs 19 with 1 day validity. 4) As explained above, the Rs 149/month pack makes no sense for data users because it gives only 300 MB. The next pack is the Rs 499/month pack which has 4 GB of data (along with the default unlimited calling feature). Since unlimited calling is available in both the Rs 149 pack as well as Rs 499 pack, then the only difference is that the 499 pack gives you additional 3.7 GB of data at an additional cost of Rs 350. => Rs 350 for 3.7 GB? Sorry, not convincing. Your own brother Anil Ambani has been offering 10 GB of data for less than Rs 400. Yes, I agree that while they are offering 3G, you are offering 4G, but at the end of the day, the total data remains the same. 5) Let me take up the next pack. Rs 999. I get 10 GB of data (along with the default unlimited calling feature). Compared to the Rs 149 pack which already has unlimited calling feature, what I get in this pack is effectively 9.7 GB of data for Rs 850. I am not impressed because if I spend a little extra, I can get unlimited 3G from BSNL. Yes, Unlimited 3G by BSNL for Rs 1099. 6) Even the Rs 999 pack fails to impress me, due to much better offering from BSNL. Why should you pay Rs 999 to Reliance for 10 GB data, when BSNL is offering unlimited data for Rs 1099? So Reliance Geo offer can be called "evolutionary". In the next plan which costs Rs 999, it offers only 10 GB, whereas BSNL gives unlimited data for almost the same price. The only major advantage for the masses is the unlimited voice calling which can be availed for Rs 149 per month. In today's scenario, most of the mobile users among the working class, are prepaid users with free lifetime validity connections, upon which they regularly recharge Rs 20-30 which usually lasts for almost a month for them. For example, many taxi drivers, vegetable vendors, mechanics etc who hardly make outgoing calls. Even if they make an outgoing call, it would not last for more than a minute. Such people tend to use only Rs 30-50 talktime per month, for which only Rs 50 topup recharge is sufficient. (Such recharges have unlimited validity). Now, if they go for Jio just because the free voice calling, they must shell out Rs 149, which lapses after 28 days validity. they must again recharge Rs 149 and so on. Such a mandatory cost of Rs 149/month sounds very expensive. It means 149X13 = Rs 1937 per annum, compared to their existing habitual top up total of just 20X12 = Rs 240 per annum. Whether you really do unlimited calling or not, 1937/ annum is too much for many. Hence, it is difficult to categorize Reliance Jio as a revolutionary data service, but it can be a good voice service if one is into chattering regularly for 1 hour outgoing call every day. By claiming itself as a path for Digital India & provide internet to the masses, it might actually end up becoming popular only for its unlimited voice, and since voice services are considered "backward", it is certainly not evolutionary. This way, Jio chalking out the vision of "Analog India" (voice), but not "Digital India" (data). Thank you for reading.... बिमल प्रसाद भुबनेश्वर, ओड़िशा, भारत Twitter: @bimalodisha Cellphone: 9937353293 -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
