![>](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="639" width="1024" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/> "Ambani's Jio unveils $12 4G phone with digital payments and streaming 3")
Photo credit: trust jio
Reliance’s digital arm, Jio Platforms, has unveiled a new mobile phone and associated tariff plans. This is the latest in a series of years-long efforts by India’s leading telecom operator, which is trying to convert users who are still “trapped” in the country’s legacy 2G networks.
Dubbed ‘Jio Bharat’, Jio Platforms’ mobile phone is 4G-ready and offers a range of advanced features, including mobile payment capabilities with UPI and access to Jio’s own on-demand video and music streaming services, JioCinema and JioSaavn. (Other specs include 48GB storage, support for expandable storage with microSD card, 2-inch display, and 0.3 VGA camera.)
The company said it will manufacture the Jio Bharat and also work with other phone makers to adopt the Jio Bharat platform to build the handsets. Delhi-based Karbonn has joined the platform, the company, which is run by billionaire investor Mukesh Ambani, said in a statement.
According to Reliance, the Jio Bharat costs 999 Indian rupees, or US$12.2. The Jio Bharat is designed for 250 million consumers in India, for whom the transition to 4G network is prohibitively expensive, the Indian giant said. The handset is part of the offer; The other game is the new affordable tariff plan.
Jio Platform has unveiled a new monthly plan that costs just 123 Indian rupees or US$1.5 and offers 14GB of data usage for the month and unlimited voice calls. For those who take out an annual subscription, the plan costs 1,234 Indian rupees, or $15.
Reliance announced that it will be offering the Jio Bharat to consumers as part of a “beta trial” starting July 7th. It says the test is being conducted to “ensure the scalability” of the platform and processes for updating “millions of feature phone users.”
“The new Jio Bharat phone is another step in this direction. It is at the heart of innovation and continues to demonstrate our focus on delivering disproportionate and real value to diverse user segments with meaningful, real-world use cases,” Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, said in a statement.
The Jio Bharat isn’t Ambani’s first foray into the world of budget cell phones. Over the years, India’s richest man has launched several affordable mobile phones. At the end of 2021, the company introduced its first smartphone called JioPhone Next. The deal represented a significant collaboration with Google, which provided an “extremely optimized” version of its Android mobile operating system to power the device.
“The JioPhone Next is an affordable smartphone designed for India, inspired by the belief that everyone in India should benefit from the possibilities of the internet,” said Sundar Pichai in 2021.
However, the $80 price tag associated with the JioPhone Next became a barrier to the wider adoption of the phone.
The Jio Bharat “could disrupt the 2G market and help Jio gain market share after the success of Jiophone devices has waned,” JP Morgan said in a report on Tuesday.
“Bharti recently raised 2G prices from Rs99 to Rs155 in all circles while Vi accepted in one circle. This disruptive move can stop incremental tariff increases for 2G and help JIO to gain market share in this segment. Jio had already become aggressive in March 23 by offering aggressive postpaid plans in addition to fiber pricing in the premium segment.”