Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, faced delays in launching its 4G LYF branded handsets for Diwali, but is on track to introduce several models before the end of this month, according to retail sources.
The company will come out with 3 to 4 models — with at least three of them priced in the sweet-spot of Rs 8,000-14,000 range — before the end of November.
The launch of LYF 4G handsets is being planned in a grand style with tens of thousands — possibly over one lakh — such devices to be made available on day one.
The devices are being made by China-based companies like BYD, ZTE, CK Telecom and so on.
LYF will be a major competitor to Lenovo, currently the biggest 4G brand in India, as well as to Micromax/YU, Xiaomi and others.
The handsets will be sold primarily through Reliance Retail outlets.
The grand scale of the planned device launch indicates that the company is unlikely to face a delay of three months in the launch of its 4G service.
There have been reports that it has pushed its LTE service launch from end of December to March-April.
The company has already put up its network in most places in India. (You can check if Reliance Jio network is present in your region by putting your LTE-enabled phone in ‘manual’ mode in the ‘network settings’ and searching for available networks. Please let us know in the comments.)
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