Why Reliance Jio 4G’s Internet For Rs 100 Plan Makes Sense

The low-cost free services will enable Jio to get rid of the freeloaders, and improve its network.

Getting rid of free loaders from its network will enable Jio to refine its network strength. (Photo: BloombergQuint)

Reliance Jio’s Happy New Year offer is the last of free internet that will be available to users. The company already has a slew of plans in place that a consumer will have to subscribe to continue to avail of Jio’s 4G VoLTE services.

This reality is slowly sinking in for the users, especially for those who won’t be spending anywhere close to 200 bucks for Jio anytime soon. This could directly impact Reliance Jio’s claimed existing user base of 83 million, bringing it down instead of pushing it closer to their targeted 100 million mark.

So, how’s Reliance Jio going to tackle this? Reports indicate that post 31 March, Jio will announce data plans for as low as Rs 100. And here’s why we think that could be a smart move on their part.

Nothing Beats Free, but Rs 100 Isn’t Too Bad

Over the years, we’ve seen that Indian consumers will take anything that’s given to them for free. And with Jio, the numbers speak for themselves. Giving away free, high-speed 4G internet was always going to fetch a lot of users for the company, and they’ve done the easy part.

So if they roll out data plans for Rs 100 post 31 March, it will still leave Reliance Jio with enough users on its network, rather than the mass exodus they risked without it.

For all its heavy investment, Jio has to work for Reliance in the long term, and with plans as low as Rs 100, their objectives can be met. Also, most of us wouldn’t mind paying Rs 100, against let’s say, Rs 300 or 400.

Freeloaders Off, Time for Some Good Internet

Most incumbent operators and analysts have highlighted the number of freeloaders hogging data with Jio. That was definitely the reason for toning down HNO with a daily usage limit of 1GB, instead of the 4GB that was available with the Welcome offer.

Those willing to pay Rs 100 for the internet are bound to get faster data speeds, and help Jio gauge its network capability and fine tune it for users who’ll be sticking around with them in the future.

Free Voice Calling is Here to Stay

When Jio started its service and promised free voice calling for lifetime, every telecom operator refuted those promises, and slammed Jio for disrupting the telecom space. But as things stand, Airtel and Vodafone along with Idea had no option but to hop aboard the free voice calling bandwagon – a win-win situation for the customers.

And with its Rs 100 plan, not only do you get access to Rs 100 4G internet, you also get free voice calls, no roaming charges, and access to services like Jio Cinema and Jio Music.

This supposed plan is expected to last up to 30 June 2017. After which one can expect Reliance Jio to have made using internet in India affordable for all. This could give a much needed head start to internet penetration in all corners of the country.