Finally, Reliance Jio Fiber broadband plans are out now.
Mukesh Ambani-owned telco Reliance Jio launched its fiber-to-the-home service Jio Fiber across the country today. The company set the launch date a month ago at its Annual General Meet (AGM), where it also announced other details about the service. On its third anniversary company, Jio announced plans ranging between ₹700 a month all the way to ₹8,499. All plans provide access to broadband, fixed-line connection Jio HomeTV and Jio’s IoT. Here are the highlights:
How to apply for Jio Fiber
The application process for Reliance Jio Fiber is simple and online—you can apply for a Jio Fiber broadband connection at its website. Once the services begin in your area, the Reliance Jio sales team will contact you to seek identity documents following which you will get a connection. So far, around 5 lakh people have already applied for a Jio Fiber connection.
Expected speeds
At the AGM, Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani demoed the speeds of the upcoming broadband service. The screens showed peak speeds of 1,008Mbps and latency (or ping) of 3 ms. The current preview offer customers have speeds capped at 100Mbps.
First Day First Show
Reliance Fiber will introduce “a disruptive concept” for watching new movies at home on the release day. This service will be launched in mid-2020, but it is worth mentioning now.
Competition
Early this week, Bharti Airtel announced a new STB for Rs 3,999 on the Xstream platform to offer content of video streaming mobile apps, except few leading over-the-top players, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos and Hotstar.
Airtel Xstream subscribers get access to ZEE5, Hooq, Hoi Choi, Eros Now, HungamaPlay, ShemarooMe, Ultra and Curiosity Stream for the first year after which customers can continue their subscription by paying an annual fee of Rs 999.
The STB can also be connected with Airtel’s DTH service for accessing live TV channels. It is also available in the form of a USB stick, much like the Amazon Fire Stick or Google Chromecast.
Jio Forever Plans
Ambani at the AGM introduced Jio Forever Plans that will give long-term users an HD or 4k LED television and 4k set-top box for free. The brand and make of the TV might be announced today.
Landline services
Reliance will offer fixed-line services with all of its Fiber packages. Voice calling to any Indian operator would be free. Jio also promised to reduce the prices of international calls.
“ISD calling tariffs would be 1/5th to 1/10th of industry rates. We are offering unlimited US/Canada pack at ₹500 per month,” Ambani said at the AGM.
Complimentary set-top box for all: Sources
“All Reliance Jio Fiber customers will get a complimentary set-top box,” the source said. Reliance Jio Fiber customers will have access to movies and other video content of leading entertainment mobile apps, whose subscription fee will be bundled in the monthly broadband connection rates and no separate charges will be levied, the source added.
Jio Set-top box features
Apart from delivering content from leading streaming services, the set-top box will also allow access to video calling service on TV sets. The customer will need to attach a camera with the STB for the service. The set-top box will also provide access to a large number of cable TV channels, as the company has worked extensively to poach in local cable operators (LCOs).
