More People Using Reliance Jio For Voice Calls in India: Report

Gone are the days when a Jio SIM was only used for data, this report says many now use it as their primary number.

The use of Reliance Jio SIM cards as the primary network for voice calls by multi-SIM holders increased in 2018, a UBS report said.

Around 92 percent of the Jio subscribers used the network for voice calls during December 2018-January 2019, compared to 83 percent of the subscribers in March-April 2018, the report said.

These figures are interesting because most industry reports till now projected Jio as a data-only service provider, people using it as second SIM on their device. The change in use of a Jio number can be also attributed to the dire calling quality scenario of other telcos such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea.

This has even compelled people into using apps like WhatsApp/Skype to make voice calls via the internet.

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The report is based on a survey carried out in 13 cities of the country, which also showed that Airtel's usage as the primary data SIM increased to 95 percent during the December-January period from 83 percent in March-April 2018. This growth could possibly be because of fall in data plans from the telco, which has invariably hit its revenue coffers over the past many quarters.

Now one might say that the report is based on a survey done for a short duration, but it’s nevertheless worth taking a closer look at.

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The survey was carried out in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Nagpur, Patna, Vishakhapatnam, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Alwar, Salem, Raipur and Allahabad.

But more than seeing an increase in the number of people using Jio for voice calls, the report tells us another intriguing story. According to UBS, JioPhone, the company’s affordable feature phone and its user share has dipped from 17 percent during March-April 2018 to 11 percent in the December 2018 to January 2019 period.

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This report contradicts recent industry reports from IDC and Counterpoint, that have pegged JioPhone to be the market leader in its segment. Does this imply that the phones getting shipped into the country aren’t exactly being sold off the shelves?

(With IANS inputs)