Jio GigaFiber to offer broadband, landline & TV service combo at Rs 600 per month
Jio is expected to add telephone and TV services to its existing broadband package in the next three months (Representational Image, Courtesy: cellcode.us)
In yet another ‘disruptive’ move, Reliance Jio GigaFiber is set to offer a broadband-landline-TV combo service for Rs 600 a month, along with a slew of additional facilities.
The service would also have the option of connecting at least 40 devices to its smart home network for up to Rs 1,000. The development was first reported by Livemint.
At present, Jio is pilot-testing GigaFiber in New Delhi and Mumbai, where it is offering 100 gigabytes (GB) of data at 100 megabytes per second (mbps) for free – albeit with a one-time deposit fee of Rs 4,500 for the router.
The company will add telephone and TV services to the existing package in the next three months. All three services are expected to remain free for about a year until their commercial roll-out.
While the landline will reportedly come with unlimited calling facility, television channels will be delivered over the internet (Internet Protocol Television or IPTV).
“All these offerings will be powered through an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) box router which can connect 40-45 devices such as mobile phones, smart TVs, laptops, tablets and a range of smart devices,” a source told the outlet.
Additional services like gaming, closed-circuit television, and smart home systems may also be included.
“While the triple combo – which will offer 600 channels with seven-day catch-up option, landline & 100 mbps broadband – will be priced Rs 600 a month, the tariff for adding other smart home services may cost extra and depending on the plan, the tariff could go up to Rs 1,000 a month,” the source added.
Jio GigaFiber, which boasts of speeds ranging from 100 mbps to 1 gbps, will also enable storing CCTV surveillance footage and other data on the cloud, thereby making it accessible across devices.
Last year, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Jio’s parent company Reliance Industries, had announced that GigaFiber will be the largest greenfield fixed-line broadband rollout globally, with a simultaneous introduction in 1,100 cities across India.
The launch of the combo service could disrupt the broadband market the same way Jio disrupted the wireless telephony market in 2016.
As of February, India had 18.29 million wired broadband users as against 531.54 million mobile broadband subscribers, which goes on to show that the market is under-penetrated with ample scope for growth.
