Remember when we used to last 1GB of 3G data for a month? That much data was enough for us when we had entry level smartphones and we had to try not wasting the precious mobile data. But nothing lasts forever, there’s a time for everything to make up or break up. No, we are not talking about your relationships. We were happy using 1GB of 3G mobile data for a month, the only thing we were not happy about was the fact that data packs used to cost us too much, and the prices were rising every now and then. The last month of 2015 witnessed a late but epic and grand entry by Reliance Jio. That was a doomsday for other mobile network providers and a ray of hope for users.
Jio acted as a boat to sail away users from the old age network speeds and saved them many bucks, to land them on an island with highest internet speeds. The mobile network operator initially provided free SIM cards to users with active 4G data plans of 1GB per day and unlimited VoLTE calls all over India for free. Later on, it offered paid 4G mobile data packs with 1GB data per day coupled with free unlimited calls and messages at competitive prices that users used to pay for 1GB of data for a month. Though, Jio was criticised for several network drop and issues regarding calls made to other networks which couldn’t connect. But what can one ask for free or at this price? Now Jio has, comparatively, improved its call quality and network speeds to retain its users. Though, the Jio network destructed the buildings of other mobile network providers to build its own, it also increased the data consumption of users in India. But we are thankful to Jio that it brought down the data pack prices of other companies, too. Many network providers, now, even offer up to 3GB of 4G mobile data per day at affordable prices, if one wants to own such packs.
Jio GigaFiber is another such introduction in the broadband sector. Launched in July 2018, the GigaFiber is now available for registrations in India before a public rollout. Reliance Jio will be offering a Preview Offer on the GigaFiber connections, as it did with Jio SIMs to cast in consumers. Under the offer, subscribers will be entitled to free 100GB of monthly data for first three months at a speed of up to 100Mbps. But there’s a catch here, as the subscribers will be asked to pay Rs 4,500 as a refundable security deposit to avail the service. The company has set its priority of providing availability of the service, to areas with most number of registrations, which will later be rolled out to other set of areas.
As per the Jio website, the 100GB monthly data can be increased to another 40GB via a complimentary data top-up through MyJio App or Jio.com, incase the 100GB data is consumed within a month. The refundable amount of Rs 4,500 will be taken for the ONT device (GigaHub Home Gateway). Another catch here is that the amount has to be paid through Debit Card, Credit Card, Jio Money or Paytm. Expectations lead to a point that Jio might also extend the preview offer limit for GigaFiber even after three months, just as it did with the Jio SIM preview offers.
It is also said that Reliance Jio will be offering additional services such as GigaTV and other smart home solutions. The refundable amount will be surrendered to the customer when he wishes to discontinue the Jio GigaFiber service after returning the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) devices, in a working condition, to the service providers.
