Mr. Mukesh Ambani(Mr. A) has proved himself to be an excellent business person yet again. Latest product - Reliance Jio is no doubt a great service that provides super high-quality service. But the offerings? They seem too good to be true - Or are they just marketing gimmicks?
Let us see..
Monthly mobile bill of an average Indian consumer can amount to around Rs. 500/-. While for a little heavy mobile internet user, it could cost around Rs. 1000/ on networks like Airtel, Vodafone etc. Mr. A has rightly tapped the Indian obsession for freebies to lure customers. Reliance Jio now offers their users Unlimited Free Calls + Unlimited SMS + Free 4G LTE Internet + Unlimited Access to Reliance Jio special Apps till December 31st 2016. This is the talk of India now.
Reliance Jio 4G Offers
Reliance JioFi M2 4G Hotspot + Reliance Reconnect 5200 mAh Power Bank. Original reliance products with bill and warranty. All you need is a JIO SIM. Enjoy your Free 4G Wifi.
Eyewash 1 - Did I just hear Rs. 50/GB? Too good to believe! Really?
I'm a little weak in Maths. So you check it too. Let's take the simple monthly plan.The simple monthly rental plan costs Rs. 149/- for 300MB.
So 1MB should cost around Rs. 0.50/-
We know that 1 GB = 1024 MB. So 1024 x 0.50 = Rs. 512/GB. Yet Mr. A says that the base internet rate on Reliance Jio would be Rs. 50/GB. Who is supposed to be weak in Maths - Me? Mr. A? You?
Eyewash 2 - Did you know Reliance Jio 1 year = 13 months
For example, consider postpaid plan Rs. 499/- covering 28 days. Now simple maths again - 28 days x 12 months = 336.Total number of days in a year = 366 or 365 days.
So (366 or 365) - 336 = 30 or 29 days extra => That's almost a month.
We have to a pay one Invisible month in excess for no good reason.
Eyewash 3 - Hackers & Pirates get benefited - Night data is free
Overjoyed by the Free Night data? Think again. The night data plan is applicable only between 2 to 5 am as highlighted by Reliance. Seriously guys.. You call this band of time - Night? Cruelly Strange.Remember other Telecom operators call 12 - 6am as night. Will I want to stay awake till 2 in the morning to download some movie? Definitely No. Absolutely Never. Any other average Indian willing?
Eyewash 4 - Digital India for average Indian? Is that true?
I don't think so. Let us consider only plans which cost Rs. 499/- or less because that is the range that most Indian people can afford.However, Mr. A says the more internet you use lesser the price will be. Luckily that is true. Towards the higher plans with 4G LTE + WiFi Hotspot, the per GB cost is getting less. For example - the per GB price for
- Rs. 299/- plan is Rs. 49.83/-
- Rs. 499/- plan is Rs. 41.58/-
- Rs. 4999/- plan is Rs. 22.21/-
But who gains here - Average Indian? I think not.
Apart from all these, Jio Sim is compatible with only a limited range of VoLTE-enabled 4G smartphones.. Jio’s voice will work only on such handsets.
Eyewash 5 - Oh my God! Where is this JioNet WiFi hotspot?
Rs 499 plan with 4GB + additional 8GB data provided by JioNet Wi-Fi hotshots + unlimited data offer from 2am to 5 am in the night.To access this free WiFi, one needs to go to a public JioNet WiFi hotspot and start using the JioFi Net app to get the extra data. If you find no WiFi hotspot closer by, then the extra data ends up serving no purpose. Am I willing to pay for data that will not be available to me all the time? No.
My question is this -