5 Things That Reliance Jio Could Announce Soon in India

The 4G telecom division of Reliance wants to build an ecosystem in India around its so-called affordable internet.

The Reliance Jio Experience Centre in Mumbai. (Photo: The Quint)

Reliance Jio is popular because of its free internet services and lifetime free voice calling. Many are using a Jio 4G SIM as a WiFi hotspot device, enjoying internet. But as the company has iterated, they are more than just a free internet company.

We weren’t sure of it before, but after getting a hands-on experience on what is in Jio’s pipeline, we are excited to see what’s in store for us.

Here are some that caught our interest.

Jio Money

Reliance Jio hopes to achieve big things with Jio Money. (Photo Courtesy: Jio)

You must be wondering what’s new with Jio Money, when services like Paytm and Freecharge exist. But as highlighted by Jio, they want Jio Money to become consumers’ one-stop cashless solution for day-to-day needs.

Be it shopping at a mall, taking the metro or paying for a cab ride, Jio Money wants to be in the thick of things. Currently, their services are limited to a few regions. But in the coming months, Jio promises to give us an app that will take away our Rs 500 or Rs 2,000 troubles.

Also, tapping into the customer base of names like Paytm or PayU and enticing people to switch to Jio Money will only happen after they offer lucrative enough incentives.

Voice over WiFi

Microsoft Skype on an Android Tablet. (Photo: iStock)

Jio hopes that with its JioVoice app (similar to WhatsApp), 4G VoLTE calling will be available to all consumers. However, in addition to this, Jio is also working on a Voice-over-WiFi feature like Skype that makes Jio 4G SIM a must-have.

According to Jio, you can make free calls to any network, even when you’re travelling abroad.

JioFi WiFi

Reliance Jio’s WiFi product JioFi (Photo: Rohit Pathak/BloombergQuint)

Reliance Jio has mentioned JioFi in its data plans which will be applicable from 1 January 2017 onwards. And even though you can’t avail those services right now, Jio is hopeful of getting things in order pretty soon.

JioFi will automatically connect to phones on the Jio network. If you’re on another network. All you’ll need is enter the OTP (one-time password) and get internet access on the go.

Jio Smart Home

Google Home is a device that connects with the internet to give you a smart home. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube/Google)

Reliance Jio’s digital boost is inclusive of a slew of smart home devices, which reminds us of Amazon Echo or the recently launched Google Home. Jio’s service will work in tandem with FTTH (fiber to the home) service, which the company claims will offer up to 1Gbps of internet speeds.

Access to most of the smart features that Jio is lining up will only work if the FTTH comes to fruition. Let’s hope they price the plans for this service affordably .

Jio Smart Car

Smart features Audi TT. (Photo: The Quint)

Jio’s dream of giving Indian consumers a smart car is nowhere close to what Elon Musk’s Tesla is doing. Instead, the company will hop onto JioFi, connect your car via an OBD (on-board diagnostic) port, which will then connect to a phone via the Jio Car Connect app. This way, you can convert any ordinary car like a Maruti Suzuki Swift or a Renault Kwid into a smart car and take control of it with your phone.

Word of Caution

Reliance Jio has a lot on its plate right now. But we’d like the company to take it one thing at a time. Recently, their 4G services were pegged slower than Airtel’s, and voice calls are hard to come by on their network.

While it is exciting to see the company is working on a lot of new products – and we’d love to see all of them work – as things stand now, we’ll let Reliance Jio walk the talk before going gaga over it.