Reliance Jio unleashes ”Datagiri” with free voice call

01 September, Mumbai

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani finally unveiled the tariffs for its 4th generation digital service, Reliance Jio at company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Under the plan, the company will not be charging for voice calls at all and it will charge a tenth of what its competitors are charging for 4G data.

While addressing the AGM, Ambani announced that Jio will charge only 5 paise per MB, or Rs 50 per GB. He made it clear that on greater usage, the rates could go down to Rs 25 per GB. Jio services will become available from Monday, September 5, absolutely free as part of the ‘Jio welcome offer’, so everyone can try Jio’s services at no charge.

The Jio 4G tariffs start at Rs 149 for 28 days, for 300 MB. For Rs 499 per month you get a big step up, to 4GB of 4G data, plus unlimited 4G at night, for 28 days. You’ll also get 8GB of access from Reliance Jio’s upcoming network of Wi-Fi hotspots, further increasing the amount of data you can use. For Rs 999, that goes up to 10GB of 4G data, and 20GB of Wi-Fi usage, plus unlimited usage at night.

Further plans are for Rs 1,499 for 20GB, Rs. 2,499 for 35GB, and Rs. 3,999 for 60GB of 4G data, and twice as much Wi-Fi usage respectively. The most expensive plan is for Rs. 4,999 for 75GB of 4G usage plus unlimited 4G usage at night, and 150GB of Wi-Fi data. These are all pre-paid tariffs, and Jio has not revealed its post-paid plans.

He also added that data must be affordable for all users. “Current market practice is to charge for data a base rate between Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 10,000 – Jio will have a base rate which is 1/10th of this,” Mr Ambani said. “Our data plans go even further with an effective rate of 5p/MB or Rs. 50/ GB.” Students will get 25 percent extra data on the tariffs, if they show a valid ID when signing up for Jio.

He said, “World over, operators charge only for data, voice and messaging are essentially free. All voice calls for Jio customers will be absolutely free.” There will also be no roaming charges, across India, to any network, it was announced. “Put an end to all voice call charges for all voice calls that are domestic,” Mr Ambani said. This applies to calls to other networks as well, not just calls within the network.