Reliance Jio launches free WiFi service in Manali

Tourist town of Manali will get high speed Wi-Fi facility for free from Thursday. The service was started here on trial basis for over a month now and now this free service will be available on regular basis.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, with help of Manali municipal council, has placed Wi-Fi hotspots at various parts of the town. Now, both local residents and tourists will be able to enjoy free high speed wireless internet service on the Mall Road and nearby areas of town.

Manali municipal council vice-president Chaman Kapoor said the free Wi-Fi internet service would be an added advantage for tourism of Manali.

"Local sub-divisional magistrate will inaugurate a function on Thursday following which the service will be started. Municipal council is also organizing a programme on Mall Road to educate people about how to use this free internet service. Technical people from Reliance will also be present in the programme," he added.

Source: Economic Times

Reliance Jio to launch Jio World to offer app-based services

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio, the only pan-India license holder of broadband wireless spectrum, is building a customer interface and app store bundled into one online service called Jio World, which will be available as an app, Mint reported.

Jio World will serve as a guide to the entire Jio ecosystem. The app based service will bundle the Jio family of apps, upcoming deals and account-related updates.

The report said that most of the services can be accessed on Jio World through two main icons, mZone and Jio Drawer.

Jio, which is likely to launch commercial services in India by December, is preparing to offer "unique combination of products, services and applications on the Jio platform" at launch, the company said while announcing its fiscal first-quarter results.

The company is banking on its content such as on-demand video, music streaming, news and high definition television services to consumers on the go at affordable prices in a bid to differentiate itself and attract subscribers in a highly competitive telecom market. The company will also delve into mobile payments and digital wallet services, another niche area which many analysts expect to become mainstream as increasing number of users adopt smartphones.

Over the next few months, Jio will launch downloadable applications for the Android and iOS operating systems, available on their respective app stores.

Recently Telegraph India reported that Reliance Jio was planning to offer consumers heavily discounted mobile Wi-Fi (Mi-Fi) devices to attract data users. It is looking to expand the addressable 4G market in the country by promoting Mi-Fi hotspots that allow users to stream data via 4G networks.

Reliance Jio inked deals with Chinese handset makers ZTE, Alcatel OneTouch (TCL Communications), Huawei, CK-Telecom and Beijing Tianyu Communication Equipment-owned K-Touch brand, and Indian brand Intex for procurement of smartphones for the company's consumer electronics brand, ReConnect, which will sell 4G handsets across India, ETTelecom recently reported.

Source: ET

Reliance Jio plans to offer heavily discounted mobile Mi-Fi devices

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio, the only pan-India license holder of broadband wireless spectrum, is planning to offer consumers heavily discounted mobile Wi-Fi (Mi-Fi) devices to attract data users, Telegraph India reported.

Jio, which is likely to launch commercial services in coming few months, is aiming to expand the addressable 4G market in the country by promoting Mi-Fi hotspots that allow users to stream data via 4G networks

Mi-fis can connect up to 10 devices at a time and cost around Rs 3,000. Reliance Jio is likely to reduce prices by about 50% to incentivise users to shift to its network, according to telecom analyst Sandip Agarwal.

Agarwal however cautioned that Reliance Jio's dependence on Mi-fi devices to drive penetration would be detrimental to user experience because of the need to carry an extra device. These devices also need to be charged separately and have a limited battery life.

Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel has already raced past Jio to expand its 4G services to cover nearly 300 towns to take the first mover advantage, becoming the first telecom company in the country to roll out 4G services pan-India. It already offers its customers Mi-Fi hotspot access.

Reliance Jio inked deals with Chinese handset makers ZTE, Alcatel OneTouch (TCL Communications), Huawei, CK-Telecom and Beijing Tianyu Communication Equipment-owned K-Touch brand, and Indian brand Intex for procurement of smartphones for the company's consumer electronics brand, ReConnect, which will sell 4G handsets across India.

Devices under the ReConnect brand will be priced between Rs 4,000 and Rs 25,000, they added. Jio has said it would ensure availability of under-Rs 5000 4G smartphones coinciding with its services launch. Jio had promised that if there was any gap between demand and supply of smartphones at a particular price level, it could bridge the gap with its own brand under Reliance Retail.

Under the partnership with Jio, companies like Huawei, ZTE, and Alcatel OneTouch will also provide dongles, Wi-Fi routers or Mi-Fis and other broadband products aimed at homes and small office or home office customers.

Source: Economic Times