Reliance Jio has unveiled detailed prepaid tariff plans for its Jio Fiber broadband-cum-IPTV service.
The plans start at Rs 699 per month (Rs 825 including 18% GST) for 100 GB and go and go all the way up to Rs 8,499.
On the face of it, the plans are slightly more expensive than most people expected, particularly given the data limits.
For example, the starting price of Rs 699 gives only 100 GB of data (even though users get an extra 50 GB during the launch period).
Including tax, that prices each GB at around Rs 8.25, which is more than twice as expensive as Jio’s own 4G services.
4G data costs just around Rs 3.5 per GB.
Moreover, the starting plan bundles only two in-house apps, JioCinema and JioSaavn.
The second plan, priced at Rs 849 per month (or about Rs 1,000 including tax) will come with 200 GB of data, and will give access to all the on-deck OTT apps that have tied up with Jio.
In both cases, the maximum bandwidth or speed is 100 Mbps.
However, even after the limit of 100 or 200 GB is reached, the customer can still access the Internet at a speed of 1 Mbps.
Nearly 85% of the customers in India do not wish to pay more than Rs 1,000 per month for their broadband connectivity, and as such, these are two plans that will be taken by most of the users.
The third Jio Fiber plan, called Gold, is priced at around Rs 1,300 (or about Rs 1,533 including tax).
This is the only plan that can support ”cord cutting” — where you can cut your cable TV service and rely on your Internet connection for watching TV programs on a daily basis.
This plan will come with 500 GB of bundled data at 250 Mbps, which will be enough to support about 15 hours of full HD video consumption per day — meaning that a subscriber can save around Rs 400 by letting go of his TV connection. This will bring the net cost down to Rs 1,133.
Users who buy Gold plan and above also get a free, 24-inch HD-ready TV if they go for the two-year plan that costs Rs 31,176. However, given the bank loan, users will still have to pay only around Rs 1,500 per month.
To get the 43-inch 4K TV, which costs at least Rs 25,000 in the market, subscribers have to choose the annual Titanium plan that costs Rs 1.02 lakh.
Unlike the Rs 1000 plan, the Gold plan comes with an ánnual subscription to all the bundled apps that form part of the service. It is not clear if the subscription will be freely extended when the one-year period is over or not.
In comparison, the entry level plan comes with only two apps (JioCinema and JioSaavn) and the Rs 1000 plan comes with a 3-month subscription to the bundled apps, which is unlikely to be extended free of cost.
All plans come with a set-top-box and a modem-cum-wifi-cum-landline-phone device, known as a ‘gateway’ device.
As a part of the introductory offer, users get extra data for the first six months. As such, the entry level offer will give 150 GB per month, the second plan will yield 400 GB per month and the third plan will give 750 GB per month.
Jio also said there will be “3, 6 and 12 month plans that provides substantially higher value”. However, these offers have not been revealed yet.
Interestingly, those who qualify for bank credit can continue to pay only monthly payment, even if they subscribe to annual packs.
The only downside is that you cannot cancel the service after 3 months or 6 months, as you have already committed to the yearly plan.
All the plans come with unlimited voice and video calling
“The average fixed-line broadband speed in India is 25 Mbps. Even in America, which is the most developed economy, it is around 90 Mbps. JioFiber, India’s first 100% ALL-FIBER broadband service, will start from 100 Mbps and go all the way up to 1 Gbps,” the company said.