Mumbai:Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (“Jio”) announced today that this Republic Day will mark an acceleration towards achieving the vision of Digital Freedom for the 50 Crore feature phone users of India. Currently, they can neither afford even the cheapest 4G LTE smartphone, nor the exorbitant cost of data and voice charged for 2G services. Consequently, they are unable to avail benefits of a smartphone and the digital ecosystem unlocked by a 4G LTE connection. This digital disempowerment and unfairness must end.

This shall be achieved in three ways – Connectivity, Data Affordability and Device Affordability.

First, Connectivity: India is leapfrogging from a 2G internet and voice era to a Digital Life. With Jio’s network expected to cover 99% of India’s population this year, India’s 4G coverage will be more than 2G coverage in the country. High quality and affordable data will be within the reach of the common man.

Second, Data Affordability: Tariffs charged for feature phone users continue to be exorbitant, while their smartphone counterparts on Jio enjoyed free voice calls and High Speed Data at the most affordable tariffs. The high feature phone tariffs make it impossible for them to even think of using data, let alone avail advanced data services like video calling, mobile video and mobile applications. Jio has made data affordable for everyone.

This Republic Day will mark the launch of yet another unprecedented plan exclusively for JioPhone users that will ensure affordable services for every Indian. JioPhone users will enjoy free voice calls and unlimited data (1GB at high speed) for 28 days at a price of only Rs. 49. Jio is also introducing affordable data add-ons at Rs 11, 21, 51 and 101.

Third, Device Affordability: Even an entry-level smart phone costs between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500 making it unaffordable for feature phone users to upgrade to a smartphone. We cannot idly stand by when such a large proportion of our fellow citizens are unable to participate in the digital revolution sweeping the nation. This is the reason why we have introduced the effectively FREE JioPhone offer.