Reliance Jio launches 4G enabled feature phone for Rs '0'

The buyer of JioPhone will have to just pay a refundable deposit of Rs. 1,500 and it will be refunded after 3 years, if one desires so.

July 21, 2017 11:47 am | Updated 04:09 pm IST

The Ambani family at the Reliance Industries annual general meeting at Birla Matoshree Auditorium.

The Ambani family at the Reliance Industries annual general meeting at Birla Matoshree Auditorium.

Mukesh Ambani, owner of Reliance Industries (RIL), on Friday unveiled JioPhone, a 4G-enabled feature phone, effectively for Rs '0' to disrupt the Indian mobile telephony again and cheered the shareholders at the company's 40th annual general meeting (AGM) by announcing a surprise 1:1 bonus issuance.

A buyer will have to just pay a refundable deposit of Rs. 1,500 and the money will be refunded after 3 years, if one desires so.

This move is aimed at capturing 50 crore Indians who use feature phones for lack of affordability of smartphones on the one hand, and multiplying the Jio customers to become India's largest mobile telephony service provider, on the other.

Introducing the phone as ' India ka SmartPhone ', Mr. Ambani said, "JioPhone is a truly revolutionary phone that will transform the lives of 50 crore feature phone users. First, On the JioPhone, voice will always be free. Currently, the 50 crore feature phone users are charged Re 1.2 to 1.5 a minute for basic voice calling. They end up spending their entire month's telecom budget of Rs 150 – 200 only to get 150 minutes of basic voice. With Jio's network coverage reaching 99 per cent of the population, and by making voice calls free, this potentially empowers each and every individual to make free voice calls to any operator, anywhere in India."

Mr. Ambani declared digital freedom to all feature phone users starting August 15, 2017. He said, "Jio will give them access to unlimited data on the JioPhone. If these feature phone users were to consume a similar quantity of data on other operator's network, they would spend over Rs 4,000 – Rs 5,000 a month at the prevailing 2G data rates. Jio will provide this at only Rs 153 a month...that is one-thirtieth the price. I am putting an end to unaffordable data, with this all unlimited, Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan plan of Rs 153 a month for the JioPhone! There will be a fair usage policy of half a GB a day, to ensure that the bandwidth is fairly apportioned for every user."

The JioPhone will be available for user testing in beta from August 15 and for pre-booking from August 24. JioPhone will be physically available to those who have pre-booked, on a first come first serve basis, September onwards.

From October onwards, the company plans to make all Jio phones in India with the availability of 5 million JioPhones every week.

In a 10 minutes surprise board meeting conveyed during the AGM, when the shareholders were busy watching a corporate film on Reliance from 12.05 p.m. to 12.15 p.m., the company decided to offer bonus issue to RIL shareholders in a ratio of 1:1, that led RIL shares up by 3.5 per cent adding Rs. 17,000 crore to its market capitalisation.

"RIL at it board meeting held on July 21, 2017, has, subject to approval of members of the Company through postal ballot, recommended issue of Bonus Shares to the members of the Company by capitalisation of its reserves in the ratio of 1 (one) bonus equity share of Rs. 10/- each fully paid-up for every 1 (one) existing equity share of Rs. 10/- each fully paid-up (that is in the ratio of 1:1) held by the members as on a ‘record date’ to be fixed hereafter for the purpose," said a company statement, adding that he company will also seek the approval of members of the company through postal ballot inter alia for increase in authorised share capital of the company.

Mr. Ambani said:

 "I now want to share with you my vision for value creation at Reliance over the next decade. India at 80 should aspire to become–and can certainly become–one of the three largest economies in the world. Reliance at 50 will aspire to become–and will certainly become–one among the Top 50 companies in the world.

''Reliance’s future value-creation strategy will support tens of thousands of small and medium businesses. Over the next decade, India has the potential to move from a $2.25 trillion economy to a $6 trillion economy. I am confident that Reliance’s own growth over the next 10 years and our contribution to the Indian economy will surpass what it has achieved in the past 40 years."

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