Airtel offers 2x data, add-on SIM with unlimited calls with postpaid plans

Under the revised Infinity plans, the company is now offering twice the data at the same price; the move comes after Jio revised its plans and booster packs to offer more data at discounted price

Bharti Airtel has revised its Infinity postpaid plans with additional data, in yet another move to take on younger rival Reliance Jio. Under the revised infinity plans, announced soon after Jio revised its plans and booster packs to offer more data at discounted price, Bharti Airtel is now offering twice the data at the same price.

Here are the details of the revised Infinity plans:

Airtel Rs 399 Infinity plan

In the Rs 399 infinity plan, Airtel is now offering 20 GB internet data, along with free unlimited local, STD and roaming calls. The pack comes bundled with free subscription of Wynk music app.

Airtel Rs 499 Infinity plan

In the Rs 499 Infinity plan, Airtel will now offer 40 GB internet data, along with free unlimited local, STD and roaming calls. The pack comes bundled with free subscription of Wynk music, Airtel TV app. Under the plan, the company is also offering free handset damage protection and access to Amazon Prime services for a year.

Airtel Rs 799 Infinity plan

Under the Rs 799 Infinity plan, Airtel will give 60 GB internet data, along with free unlimited local, STD and roaming calls. The pack comes bundled with free subscription of Wynk music, Airtel TV app.

The company is also offering free handset damage protection and access to Amazon Prime services for a year under this plan. Additionally, the plan comes with an option to avail of one free add-on connection with unlimited free calls.

Airtel Rs 1,199 Infinity plan

In the Rs 1,199 infinity plan, Airtel is now offering 90 GB internet data, along with free unlimited local, STD and roaming calls. The pack comes bundled with free subscription of Wynk music, Airtel TV app. Under the plan, the company is also offering free handset damage protection and access to Amazon Prime services for a year. Additionally, the plan comes with an option to avail of two free add-on connections with unlimited free calls…….read more

JioCoin: Reliance planning own cryptocurrency, Akash Ambani to lead project

The company aspires to get into the Internet-of-things business and blockchain will help its foray

Reliance Jio is planning to create a cryptocurrency of its own called ‘JioCoin’, and will put together a young team of 50-odd professionals under Akash Ambani to kickstart the project, a Livemint report claims. The Ambani scion is reportedly interested in developing blockchain technology to aid the development of smart contacts and cryptocurrency payment-enabled supply chains.

Blockchain is a digital ledger that works as a book-keeper for cryptocurrencies.

‘Jio’ a leap into Reliance’s future?

Reliance Jio has disrupted India’s telecom sector in the past year-and-a-half by offering services at hyper-competitive prices, forcing other telcos to follow suit.

Reliance Industries, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate that holds Jio is reportedly mulling an IPO in late 2018 or early 2019. The group has already pumped in $31 billion worth of investment in Jio.

The Livemint report quoted a Jio official as saying that the company aspires to get into the Internet-of-things business and blockchain technology is supposed to help its foray.

IoT is technology that allows physical objects like wearable technology, smartphones, other electronic devices to be connected. From smart cities to driverless cars and smart factories, and smart homes the Internet of Things is supposed to enter every aspect of people’s lives.

ALSO READ: How ‘Internet of Things’ will change the world as we know it

Reliance celebrated forty years of its existence a couple of weeks back, where Mukesh Ambani’s children- Aakash, Isha, Anant were projected as the petrochemical behemoth’s next-generation leaders.

Mukesh Ambani earlier said that group would take big leaps in the digital services sector. The Reliance group has changed its core business quite a few times over the decades- from dealing in spices to exporting textiles, to becoming a petrochemical behemoth and now disrupting the telecom sector………read more

Tata Tele stuns Reliance Jio, adds 4.9 mn users in August, show Trai data

Despite attractive scheme, landline market leader BSNL lost 1.4 lakh landline customers while Bharti Airtel gained 5,761 new customers

Loss-making telco Tata Teleservices surprisingly added more new customers in August than other operators including, latest entrant Reliance Jio, as per TR AI data.
Tata Teleservices added close to 49 lakh new mobile customers in August, increasing its total customer base by over 10 per cent to 4.69 crore. The company is in the process of merging its telecom business with telecom major Bharti Airtel.
Reliance Jio added close to 41 lakh new customers in August taking its total subscriber base to 13.2 crore, as per monthly subscriber report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Also Read : Airtel Bundles Postpaid, Prepaid Plans With More Data, Free Unlimited Calls

State-run BSNL was at the third spot with an addition of 7 lakh new customers. All other operators, including Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, lost mobile customers.
The overall telecom user base in the country declined marginally to 120.9 crore customers with eight mobile operators losing mobile customers — the segment which dominates telephone connections in the country.
“Total wireless subscribers declined from 1,186.79 million at the end of July 2017 to 1,185.84 million at the end of August 2017,” TRAI report said.
Reliance Communications, which is set to close its mobile operation from December 1, lost 40 lakh customers in the reported month. It was followed by Idea Cellular which lost close to 29 lakh customers………read more

Apple iPhone X to go on sale in India today: Check out the best deals

In India, the iPhone X base model with 64 GB storage is priced at Rs 89,000 and the higher storage model with 256 GB internal storage is priced at Rs 1,02,000

Apple’s anniversary edition iPhone X is going on sale in India today. The smartphone will be available through Apple’sretail stores and e-commerce platforms. Also, the phone will be available on the online stores of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.

In India, the iPhone X base model with 64 GB storage is priced at Rs 89,000 and the higher storage model with 256 GB internal storage is priced at Rs 1,02,000.

Reliance Jio has teamed up with Apple to offer 70 per cent buyback option to Jio customers on iPhone X. Also, Reliance Jio is offering Rs 10,000 cashback to Citibank customers on purchase of the iPhone X using their Citibank credit or debit card.

The buyback offer on iPhone X is valid only for Jio subscribers who opt for Rs 799 monthly Jio-Apple contract, which is valid for 12 months. The buyback offer assures 70 per cent money back to subscribers post 12-months subjected to terms and conditions.

The Rs 799 monthly contract is available for postpaid and prepaid subscribers. In the Rs 799 monthly plan, Reliance Jio will offer free voice calls, SMS and Jio apps coupled with 3 GB high-speed 4G data per day valid for 28 days.

India’s leading telecom player Bharti Airtel would sell Apple’s anniversary edition iPhone X through its online store. The much-awaited smartphone of the year will go on sale starting 6 PM (IST), exclusively to Airtel postpaid customers as an unlocked device.

The Airtel Online store will put on sale both the variants of iPhone X. The 64 GB and 256 GB model of the smartphone is priced at Rs 89,000 and Rs 1,02,000, respectively. Citibank credit card customers can also avail Rs 10,000 cashback on the purchase of iPhone X……..read more

New Year disruption plan: Now, Reliance Jio moves to broadband, TV space

Jio mapped out plan to address 100 mn TV households in 30 cities by ensuring dense fibre presence for last-mile connectivity to homes

After its success in mobile telephony, Reliance Jio is preparing to disrupt the market once again. This time in the fixed broadband and television (TV) space.

The Mukesh Ambani-led company will launch high-speed fibre to the home (FTTH) broadband in more than 30 cities early next year, to offer TV as well as internet to subscribers, it is learnt.

Jio has mapped out a plan to address over 100 million TV households across these cities, including Tier II and III, by ensuring dense fibre presence for last-mile connectivity to homes. In the first phase itself, at least 50 million households will be offered the service, according to sources in the know.

Jio has already spread out over 300,000 kilometres of optic fibre (half of which is through a long-term contract with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications).

In fact, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, in his annual general meeting speech this year, indicated that Jio was on track to offer high-speed broadband services. The infrastructure was in place and it would be the next big monetisation opportunity for the company, he had said.

is expected to woo customers with premium offers such as ultra-high speed of up to 1 gigabit per second. The set-top box, as part of the package, will be a home entertainment hub – offering TV channels, high-end gaming, video on demand, among others.

Jio is eyeing an average revenue per user of around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per month from subscribers (which includes internet and TV), as their usage of data goes up, a source said.

A Jio spokesperson declined to comment on the FTTH plan.

Currently, Jio is learnt to be running a trial offer in limited markets in Mumbai and Delhi, with only internet services at speeds of 100 megabits per second and 100 gigabytes of data free of cost. It is providing a special router, which connects multiple devices at a refundable deposit of Rs 4,500. With a multi-service operator (MSO) licence in place, it will also offer TV services.

Jio is planning to leverage technology to resolve some of the problems of FTTH. For instance, it’s likely to use power-line communicators – a small plug-and-play device that extends the strong WiFi signal to rooms far away from the router. While FTTH can get problematic in large homes and offices, Jio’s working on a strategy to use existing electric wiring to transmit data and TV signals across the house.

However, competitors such as MSOs and direct-to-home (DTH) operators argue the jury is still out on whether this gamble will work and if Jio can actually replicate the success in mobility once again……read more