Reliance Jio Infocomm’s move to offer a feature phone virtually for free addresses the nearly 50 crore current users of such phones who sit on the fringes of the data revolution sweeping India. The company on Friday announced the launch of such a phone with voice calls for free and unlimited data at Rs 153 per month. There is a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500 which the user can […]

Reliance Jio’s much-anticipated launch on Thursday offering free voice calls and data services at very low tariffs resembles a similar “disruptive” strategy that the company had adopted 13 years ago. In 2003, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance India Mobile stormed the market with a “Monsoon Hungama” scheme, which offered mobile connection and a handset at R501. As incumbent operators jostled to keep their customer base intact, tariffs plunged, making mobile phones affordable […]