VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Recent tariff changes to benefit Vi, Airtel, Jio:  The three private telecom operators of the nation,   Vodafone Idea ,   Bharti Airtel , and   Reliance Jio   will certainly benefit from the recent changes in tariffs and offers provided to the customers. In the September quarter, multiple things took place, such as telcos removed their base plans to earn more out of low average revenue per user (ARPU) customers. Then the telcos introduced bulk data plans with new validities, which were slightly on the more expensive end. Telcos even withdrew the offers and benefits (talktime and data) that they were providing to their customers.   Due to this consumer spending is going to increase substantially, which will help the operators in increasing their ARPU. With their ARPU slightly increased, the operators are expected to continue exploring ways to expand their subscriber market share until 5G comes, but that is a topic of discussion for some other day.   The...

Brand Finance reported Jio as India's strongest brand:  According to the latest report on Indian brands by   Brand Finance , Telecom and digital communications major   Reliance Jio   is the strongest brand in India. As per Brand Finance, Jio is also the world's strongest telecom brand.   The report noted that despite being founded only in 2016, Jio has quickly become the largest mobile network operator in India and the third largest mobile network operator in the world, with almost 400 million subscribers. Jio took India by storm, offering 4G to millions of users for free and simultaneously transforming how Indians consume the internet - known as the 'Jio effect', it said. This year Jio also counts among the top 10 most valuable brands in India for the first time.   Savio D'Souza, Valuation Director, Brand Finance , said, "The dominance of the Jio brand across the nation is evident from the results of Brand Finance's original market research. Jio score...

IUC Regime For Domestic Voice Calls Comes To An End:  As per directions of the Hon’ble   Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) , Bill and Keep regime is being implemented in the country from 1st January 2021, thereby ending   interconnect usage charges (IUC)   for all domestic voice calls. Honouring its commitment to revert off-net domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting 1st January 2021. On-net domestic voice calls have always been free on the   Jio network .   For context, in September 2019, when TRAI extended the timeline for implementation of the Bill & Keep regime beyond 1st January 2020, Jio was left with no option but to start charging its customers for offnet voice calls, at a rate exactly equivalent to the applicable IUC charge. While doing so, Jio had assured its users that this charge would continue only till the time TRAI abol...

Jio and Mediatek to begin 2021 with the biggest online-gaming tournament:  Jio   and   MediaTek   have come together to launch ‘ Gaming Masters ’, an esports event targeted at new and existing online gaming enthusiasts in India. This 70-day esports tournament comes just days after the successful completion of JioGames’ first online gaming event -  ‘India ka Gaming Champion’ . ABOUT GAMING MASTERS:  Gaming Masters is a grassroot undertaking by MediaTek and Jio, that is meant to revolutionize online gaming  The tournament is set to test gamer’s skill, teamwork and endurance in a virtual gaming arena, while vying for a prize pool of INR 12,50,000  The entire tournament will be broadcast LIVE on JioTV HD Esports Channel and YouTube  Gaming Masters will feature Garena’s self-developed hit battle royale title, Free Fire, which is being made available to both Jio and non-Jio users through the JioGames platform

As the year 2018 comes to a close, Reliance Jio has announced a ‘ Happy New Year 2019 Offer ’ for its customers on Friday. The new offer is somewhat similar to what the telco has offered in the past and Jio users will get to avail 100 percent cashback when they recharge their connection with the Rs 399 plan in the form of coupons that can be availed on e-commerce portal AJIO. “Jio in partnership with AJIO has introduced its Jio Happy New Year Offer . The offer provides 100 per cent cashback in form of AJIO coupon. Customers performing recharge of Rs 399 will get 100 per cent cashback in form of AJIO coupon. AIO coupon worth Rs 399 will be credited in ‘MyCoupons’ section of MyJio,” Jio said in a statement. It should be noted that the telco is offering Ajio coupons worth the recharge value (Rs 399) under the new offer, which will be credited to their coupons section, in the MyJio account. One will get to avail the benefits of the new offer between December 28, 2018, and January 31,...

New integrated platform now available across all App stores and at jio.com/JioSaavn Powered by Jio's advanced digital services infrastructure and complemented by its widespread user base, JioSaavn will be the largest streaming platform in South Asia as well as in India, with a catalog of more than 45 million songs and award-winning original content, JioSaavn brings users a wide-ranging audio experience. As announced in March 2018 at the time of acquisition of Saavn by Reliance Industries Ltd, the implied valuation of the combined entity at over US$1 billion makes it the most valuable music streaming platform in South Asia, and among the most popular in the world. JioSaavn combines the streaming media expertise of Saavn with Jio’s digital services ecosystem. Jio is India’s largest digital services network with over 252 million subscribers. The integrated app has a massive addressable market opportunity both in India as well as for the Indian diaspora. With the inte...

Jio and SBI are deepening their partnership to bring next-generation bilateral frictionless experience with exclusive digital Banking, Payments and Commerce journeys for their customers.  Jio and SBI are entering into a digital partnership aimed to increase SBI’s digital customer base multifold. SBI YONO is a revolutionary omni-channel platform offering digital banking, commerce and financial superstore services to customers. YONO’s digital banking features and solutions will be enabled through the MyJio platform for a seamless, integrated and superior customer experience. MyJio, one of India’s largest over-the-top (OTT) mobile applications, will now bring in financial services capabilities of SBI and Jio Payments Bank.  Jio and SBI customers will benefit from Jio Prime, a consumer engagement and commerce platform from Reliance. Jio Prime will offer exclusive deals from Reliance Retail, Jio, partner brands and merchants. In addition, with an integration between SBI...

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (“Jio”) has announced its new Postpaid offering with a promise to redefine postpaid services in India. The all-new JioPostpaid will be available for subscription starting 15th May, 2018. JioPostpaid marks a paradigm shift in the way postpaid services are offered and consumed, just like Jio did with its prepaid services. With JioPostpaid, Jio has strengthened the service offerings suited to the requirements of postpaid subscribers. It has redefined the postpaid services that Indians have experienced till date by introducing the revolutionary “Zero-Touch” Postpaid. Jio Postpaid brings a differentiated connected living experience to postpaid users and will once again challenge the industry status quo by offering the lowest tariffs in India and abroad to the postpaid users, who end up paying disproportionately higher as compared to the prepaid segment.... Read More

The Reliance Jio chief, Mukesh Ambani in the company’s AGM has announced the launch of JioPhone that will be effectively free for Jio customers. However the user has to pay a Rs. 1,500 deposit which is fully refundable after three years.  The JioPhone was launched by Akash and Isha Ambani.  The phone will be available from August 15 for testing in beta, and pre-booking will start from August 24. The users will be able to buy the phone from September on a first come first serve basis. The phone will come with few different data packs.  Users can either pay Rs. 153 per month, for which they will get free voice and SMS, and unlimited data, along with Jio apps, or they can pay Rs. 309 per month, to get all this, plus the support for mirroring your screen on a TV, via a cable that can even be plugged into CRT TVs. After three years, you can return the phone, and get a full refund on the deposit.... Read More

Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched the Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) submarine cable system. AAE-1, the longest 100Gbps technology-based submarine system will stretch over 25,000 km from Marseille, France to Hong Kong, with 21 cable landings across Asia and Europe. This large scale project is the combined work of leading telecom service providers from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. With diversified Points of Presence (PoP) in Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore) and three onward connectivity options in Europe (via France, Italy and Greece), AAE-1 will provide the requisite flexibility and diversity for carriers and their customers.  AAE-1 will pass through the critical hubs, serving the increasing demand for video-centric data bandwidth supporting all types of communications, applications, and content within India and beyond. AAE-1 links seamlessly with other cable systems and fiber networks to deliver direct access to all global markets.... Read More

The Retailers’ Association of India (RAI) has collaborated with Reliance JIO-GST for introducing a GST-compliance solution for implementation of GST by retailers. Reliance JIO is one of the GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) and JIO-GST solution will assist retailers to maintain records, file GST returns and comply with the provisions of GST law. “GST is a giant step forward for India to create uniformity of taxes across the country. We know that its implementation is a complex process and all of us, in the industry, have to play our part for successful implementation of the Act. We, at RAI, believe that this welcome change has to be supported with an easy technological access for compliance. We are sure that JioGST will be able to support millions of retailers across the country to ensure hassle- free compliance,” said Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, RAI..... Read More