Six years after it first unveiled a 4G-enabled feature phone, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio on Monday announced a fresh play in the segment by launching the Jio Bharat V2 phone, priced at Rs. 999. The beta trial for the first 1 million of these low-price internet-enabled mobile devices will start on July 7, it said.
The company launched a new operating system — Jio Bharat platform — which other phone brands, such as Karbonn, will also adopt to build their phones, the company said.
Stressing that 250 million feature phone users across the country represent a wide digital divide, the company said Jio Bharat V2 phones will provide digital freedom in the form of high-quality, affordable data to economically weaker segments of the population.
Jio also announced a 30 per cent cheaper bundled monthly plan of Rs. 123, against the minimum Rs. 179 monthly plans offered by other operators. It will be offering 14 GB free data with the plan, seven times more than the 2GB data offered by its competitors. The annual plan would cost Rs. 1,234. Both plans include unlimited calling.
Jio said the upcoming trials will ensure the scalability of the platform and processes for upgrading millions of feature phone users; trials will be carried out across 6,500 tehsils.
The Jio Bharat V2 phone has a 1.77-inch QVGA TFT display and also offers a removable 1,000 mAh battery. It will be locked to the Jio network and support UPI payments through JioPay. It will also have access to JioCinema for movies, videos, and sports entertainment, and the JioSaavn service, which includes more than 80 million songs in multiple languages, the company said.
No holds barred
Attacking its rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for raising entry-level tariffs, Jio said feature phone users now face increased digital disempowerment and disparity “with other telecom operators increasing the minimum price to stay connected by more than twice”. Even basic voice services for a 30-day period, which used to cost Rs. 99 previously, now costs Rs. 199, it said.
“This segment is most exploited by incumbent operators because users in this segment are unable to afford smartphones. Not only do these users face the issue of affordability but also restriction from accessing digital services,” the company said.
Arguing that “technology will no longer remain a privilege for a select few”, Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said in a statement the new phone is a step towards innovation. “There are still 250 million mobile phone users in India who remain trapped in the 2G era, unable to tap into basic features of the internet at a time when the world stands at the cusp of a 5G revolution. Six years ago when Jio was launched, we made it clear that Jio will leave no stone unturned to democratise the internet and pass the benefits of technology to every Indian,” he added.
In April 2017, Jio launched JioPhone, its first 4G feature phone for the then 500-million strong feature phone user market for Rs. 1,500, which the company had said would be refunded after a period of three years.
In August 2018, the company announced JioPhone 2, a higher-end model. It had last launched the JioPhone Next in 2019, developed in partnership with Google, which ran on Pragati OS, an optimised version of Android to offer an entry-level smartphone to budget-conscious users.
