Jio Bharat Phone launched at Rs 999 – Can this be game-changing?

Jio Bharat Phone: Reliance Jio has announced the introduction of Jio Bharat Phone, a service designed to provide feature phone customers with reasonably priced internet-enabled phones. The Bharat Phone, which…

By Nivedita Bangari

July 4, 2023

2 min read

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Jio Bharat Phone: Reliance Jio has announced the introduction of Jio Bharat Phone, a service designed to provide feature phone customers with reasonably priced internet-enabled phones. The Bharat Phone, which has an entry price of Rs 999, promises to tap into India’s existing 250 million feature phone customers to provide access to internet-enabled services.

The Jio Bharat platform will also provide a variety of digital services on low-cost phones. Other phone brands, beginning with Karbonn, will use the Jio Bharat platform to build Bharat phones in addition to Reliance Retail. In collaboration with Karbonn, the firm is unveiling the first two Jio Bharat phones.

On July 7, a beta trial for the first 1 million Jio Bharat phones will begin. The trial will take place in 6,500 tehsils, with the goal of updating feature phone users and supplying them with ‘internet-enabled’ smartphones.

The Jio Bharat Phone package costs Rs 123 per month. Users will have access to unlimited voice calls as well as 14 GB of data (0.5GB each day). According to Jio, this is a 30% cheaper monthly plan with 7 times more data than other operators’ feature phone offerings.

Annual Plans are also available with the Jio Bharat Phone. The annual package costs Rs 1,234 and includes a total of 168GB of data (0.5GB each day) as well as unlimited calling.

Akash Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Jio, emphasized the objective behind Jio Bharat Phone by stating that approximately 250 million mobile phone users in India are still confined to the outdated 2G era. They are unable to access essential internet features while the world is on the verge of a 5G revolution.

He further expressed that six years ago, when Jio was launched, they made a commitment to democratize the internet and extend the benefits of technology to every Indian. Technology should no longer be a privilege reserved for a few. The new Jio Bharat phone represents another stride towards that goal. It exemplifies innovation and reinforces their dedication to providing significant and practical value to diverse user segments.

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