In the face TRAI scrutiny & criticism from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for making commercial gains in the garb of extensive 'trial runs', Reliance finally announced the official roll-out of its much awaited 4G service, Jio (Diwali was the previous tentative date, but now it's 5th September, Ganesh Chaturthi).
Print, electronic & social media are all abuzz with what could be a watershed moment in the history of telecommunications in India. But, should you immediately rush to the nearest Jio store and get a SIM/device? Are you fully aware of the technicalities involved? Or are you just too eager to join the bandwagon after yesterday's lucrative announcements?
Well, here's a layman's guide to what Jio entails and whether you should show haste or play the waiting game.
Voice calls ONLY through data network (VoLTE): In layman terms, all voice calls on Jio will be routed through 4G data. In other words, there is no separate voice network in Jio; it is a data-only network. In technical terms, such voice calls are called Voice over LTE network (VoLTE). Theoretically, voice calls on VoLTE networks provide faster connections and superior clarity. However, in India, Jio is the only VoLTE network and hence to connect to other 2G/3G networks for voice calls, it depends on the mercy of the operator receiving the VoLTE call to connect it to their 2G/3G voice network. Jio says it will pay the charges for connecting their VoLTE calls to other networks & the customer will enjoy free voice calls. However, even during the trial phase, Jio was facing a lot of problems in procuring interconnection between its VoLTE network and other networks, resulting in a very high percentage of call drops. Also remember, since Jio's voice calls will be entirely based on this VoLTE technology, if you have a 4G handset that does not support VoLTE technology you will not be able to make voice calls from Jio. Complicated, huh? Update, 5/9/2016: Reliance has stated that 4G handsets that are not VoLTE enabled will be able to make voice calls using the JioJoin app. However, presumably, these calls will be similar to voice calls on apps like Whatsapp, Viber & Skype in quality (not very good) and will use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology. Also, data spent on voice calls made from third party apps (such as Whatsapp, Viber & Skype) will be charged.
4G ONLY Network: Jio is only 4G. Which means that if you're somewhere where there is no Jio 4G connectivity, then your SIM is dead. You can't make any calls or browse the internet. There is no 2G/3G network to fall back on. However, Reliance has announced that it will cover 90% of India with 4G by March 2017. But, does a telecom company keep its promises? Ask any consumer!
4G ONLY Network: Jio is only 4G. Which means that if you're somewhere where there is no Jio 4G connectivity, then your SIM is dead. You can't make any calls or browse the internet. There is no 2G/3G network to fall back on. However, Reliance has announced that it will cover 90% of India with 4G by March 2017. But, does a telecom company keep its promises? Ask any consumer!
Data balance will be used in everthing you do on Jio: Technically, voice calls are not free. Voice calls on Jio will consume data from your data pack. In other words, for a voice call, you will not be charged in terms of rupee/paise but in terms of KB/MB of data usage. No doubt voice calls will be much cheaper this way, but your "free" voice calls will be limited to the data available in your plan. [Update, 5/9/2016: After much confusion in the social and electronic media about 'free voice calls', Reliance has promised that data spent on voice calls will NOT be deducted from the consumers' data allocation. However, it is not yet clear whether this benefit will extend beyond the free period or not.] Similarly, whenever you use a Jio app (JioTV, JioChat or JioBeats, etc.) you will have to spend from your allotted data balance. The subscription to these apps is free till Dec 2017 but data usage on them will be deducted from your plan. In simpler words, you buy data from Jio and can then spend it on whatever Jio feature you want. Thus, your use of Jio services is limited by your data pack. Update, 5/9/2016: Reliance has clarified that in video calls (made only through Jio app) only data used for video will be debited from data pack. The data spent on transmitting voice will not be charged. However, how this complex calculation will be made is yet to be seen.
When will you get a Jio hotspot in your area? : A little known feature of the unveiled Jio plans is the 'JioNet Hotspot'. This provides a fixed amount of free data in addition to the allotted quota in each plan at Jio wifi hotspots throughout the country (to be called JioNet Hotspots). Reliance announced that it will setup a million such hotspots across the country in the coming months. So, if you're lucky and have a JioNet Hotspot near your residence or office, enjoy additional data; but if you don't have a hotspot nearby, you're basically missing out on additional data without any reduction in plan prices.
Activation Hassles: In the past few months, Jio was made available to anyone who bought a Reliance Lyf smartphone (even during the test phase). The activation process became cumbersome and time-consuming once news of the 3-month Jio Preview Offer spread. The trial phase infrastructure was not meant to handle such a high number of activation requests and even today most complaints about Jio in social media are about Jio SIMs not getting activated even after a fortnight. So, unless Reliance seriously upgrades its activation facilities, given the fact that there will be many more activation requests now, the activation process can turn out to be extremely frustrating. Reliance announced that instant e-KYC via Aadhaar will be up and running in six weeks' time. Promises, anyone?
There are quite a few things that Reliance isn't telling you! For example, did you know that data consumed in addition to your allotted usage will be charged at Rs. 250/GB on a 10kb pulse basis? No, not Rs.50/GB. Also, Reliance has not revealed what the subscription prices of Jio apps will be after the end of the free period.
In conclusion, personally, I am risk aversive when it comes to investing my money. So, my advice is to play the waiting game on Jio- atleast for a few weeks. Once the teething troubles are over, once the fine print is clearly visible & once customer reviews & official speed-tests start coming in, Jio promises to be a great investment & adventure! It has already forced my current mobile operator to cut 3G data prices by upto 60%! So, I'll prefer to enjoy the 'side-effects' of Jio at the moment!
American author Mark Twain famously once said : "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." Perhaps, it is indeed better to pause for a bit right now.
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Excellent Article..keep it up
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