Jio's New ₹999 Internet-Enabled Phone Could Be A Lifeline For 250 Mn Indians: Here's Why

Reliance Jio revealed its latest innovation, ‘JioBharat‘ phones for the rural masses of the country. The feature phone will be available for just ₹999, making it the most affordable internet-enabled phone on the market, according to a Jio press release.

Competitive Plans: JioBharat phone buyers can look forward to a 30% cheaper monthly plan and seven times more data compared to other operators’ feature phone offerings.

The basic monthly recharge plan is priced at ₹123, offering unlimited voice calls and 14GB of data. This stands in stark contrast to other operators’ ₹179 plan for voice calls and just 2GB of data.

Jio also offers an annual plan for ₹1,234, featuring unlimited voice calls and 168 GB data (0.5 GB per day), which is approximately 25% cheaper than other operators’ annual plans.

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Initial Trials and Expansion: The first round of beta trials for the JioBharat phones will start from July 7, involving 10 lakh units tested across 6,500 tehsils nationwide.

Jio’s aim is to distribute the internet-enabled JioBharat phones to nearly 250 million people in India who are still relying on basic 2G-enabled feature phones.

Other phone brands, including Karbonn, are partnering with Reliance Retail to adopt the platform and manufacture JioBharat phones.

JioBharat Phone: The JioBharat phone packs a 1.77-inch QVGA TFT display and carries a removable 1000mAh battery. Jio locks the phone to its network, so it requires a Jio SIM to function. It also includes basic features such as a torch light, FM radio, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a 0.3-megapixel rear camera. The storage is expandable up to 128GB with an SD card.

Moreover, the phone supports UPI payments through JioPay and offers entertainment options like JioCinema for movies, videos, and sports, as well as the JioSaavn service, featuring a vast library of over 8 crore songs in multiple languages.

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