STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF RELIANCE

JIO ON THE TELECOM INDUSTRY

DEVANSHI KAPOOR
(SAP ID-77118965396)

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 Acknowledgement
I would like to thank and express my profound gratitude to those who contributed and assisted
greatly in the completion of this Research Project. I would like to thank my faculty, Purva Shah, her
advice, supervision and feedback which contributed positively to the successful completion of this
project. As her supervision, her encouragements assisted me in carrying out this research study in the
right direction. Finally, I would like to thank each and every respondent of the questionnaire who
devoted their time and helped in completion of the research, without them the analysis and conclusion
would not have been possible.

Devanshi Kapoor

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 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 4-8

TELECOM MARKET IN INDIA ......................................................................................................................... 4
HISTORY OF JIO ............................................................................................................................................ 6

OBJECTIVE, SCOPE AND LIMITATION .......................................................................... 9-10

METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 11
LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 12-13
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 14-19
DATA AND ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 20-65
HOW JIO ENTERED THE TELECOM MARKET ................................................................................................. 18
1 YEAR OF JIO IN INDIA .............................................................................................................................. 28
CHANGE IN TARIFF PLANS ......................................................................................................................... 32
JIO PHONE .................................................................................................................................................. 35
JIO FIBER ................................................................................................................................................... 36
JIO MART ................................................................................................................................................... 37
RELIANCE JIO’S PURSUIT OF 5G................................................................................................................. 38
IMPACT ON SUBSCRIBERS AND REVENUE.................................................................................................... 40
M&A AFTER JIO ......................................................................................................................................... 48
INVESTMENTS MADE IN JIO IN 2020 ........................................................................................................... 52
COMPANIES JIO HAS INVESTED IN............................................................................................................... 55
SURVEY ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................... 56

FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................................. 66-69

RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................................................ 70
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................. 71-73
ANNEXURE ................................................................................................................................................ 74

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 Introduction
India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications market with a subscriber base of
1.18 billion. Telecom industry contribution to GDP is expected to near 8.2% by 2020. The subscriber
base stood at approximately 1058.86 million as of March 2016. As of July 2016, with 462.12 million
internet subscriptions, India stood third-highest in terms of total internet users in 2016. Wireless
subscription has grown robustly over the past few years. In FY20 (till December 2019), wireless
subscription stood at 1,151.44 million.

Telecom penetration, also known as tele-density, has grown quickly over the last few years. Tele-
density grew from 18.23 per cent in FY16 to 83.36 per cent in FY20 (till December 2019). Rural
wireless tele-density in the country increased to 56.40 per cent by December 2019 from 50.88 per cent
as of March 2016.

The telecom market in India can be broadly split into three segments –

• Mobile (wireless) - Consists of establishments operating and maintaining switching and

transmission facilities to provide direct communication via airwaves.
• Fixed-line (wire-line) - Comprises of companies that operate and maintain switching and
transmission facilities to provide direct communication through landlines, microwave or a
combination of landlines and satellite link-ups, and
• Internet Services - Includes Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that offer broadband internet
connections through consumer and corporate channels

According to the Annual Report of the Department of Telecommunications, India’s growing mobile
economy now constitutes about 98% of all telephone subscriptions. The mobile industry has witnessed
exponential growth over the last few years driven by affordable tariffs, wider availability, roll out of
Mobile Number Portability (MNP), expanding 3G and 4G coverage, evolving consumption patterns and
supportive policy and regulatory environment. As per a GSMA report, the mobile industry supports
about 6.5% of India’s GDP. The figure accounts for both the direct economic activity generated by
mobile operators and an indirect effect on the rest of the economy resulting from increased use of
mobile technology by individuals and firms.

The private sector now firmly dominates the telecom sector with a continuous rise in the number of
subscribers. At the end of November’19, the total number of telephone connections provided by the
private sector stood at 1040.80 million and the number of telephone connections provided by the public
sector stood at 133.86 million. The share of private sector in the total number of connections was
88.60 per cent at the end of November’19.

Mobile Broadband –

India holds the distinction of being the largest consumer of mobile data globally. Data consumption in
the country has witnessed growth exponentially over the course of the past few years. Total wireless
data usage in India grew 10.58 per cent year on year to 19,838,886 TB in Q2FY20. The contribution of
3G and 4G data usage in total volume of wireless data usage was 5.72 per cent and 93.65 per cent,
respectively, in Q2FY20. Share of 2G data usage remained 0.62 percent during the quarter.

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According to Nokia MBiT Index, total data traffic increased by 44 times over the last four years;
2019 saw total broadband subscribers surpassing 600 million. Overall data traffic increased by 47% in
2019 due to continued 4G dataconsumption; while 3G data traffic registered its highest ever decline of
30%. Overall average data usage per month registered a CAGR of 93% from 2015-2019 with average
data usage per month surpassing 11 GB in December 2019. Continued up-gradations to 4G, low data
prices, affordable smartphones and increased video viewership have driven higher data consumption.
The report also states that India offers the cheapest mobile data in the world at INR 7/GB(2015- INR
226/GB-TRAI). The cost of data has also reduced by a substantial amount, enabling affordable internet
access for millions of Indians.

According to the DoT report, the Government has placed considerable emphasis on growth of internet
and broadband in the country as part its Digital India campaign. Mobile has now emerged as the main
platform for internet access in India, bringing connectivity to many previously unconnected populations.

App downloads in the country increased from 12.07 billion in 2017 to 19.00 billion in 2019 and is
expected to reach 37.21 billion in 2022. India has witnessed a 195 per cent growth in app downloads in
the past three years with Indians spending US $370 million through app stores in 2019. The segment’s
growth is expected to be motivated by increasing mobile connections and availability of low-range
smartphones. Over 100 million apps are downloaded every month across different platforms such as iOS
and Android.

Recent Developments in the Telecom Sector-

FDI in telecom sector has been increased to 100 per cent from 74 per cent. Out of this, 49 per cent will
be done through automatic route and the rest will be done through the FIPB approval route. FDI of up to
100 per cent is permitted for infrastructure providers offering dark fibre, electronic mail and voice mail.
FDI inflow into the telecom sector during April 2000-December 2019 totaled to US$ 37.11 billion. In
January 2020, the government of India permitted 100 per cent FDI in Bharti Airtel.

• In February 2018, TRAI passed the Telecommunication Tariff (63rd amendment) order,
according to which, telecom firms are now free to give promotional offers to customers if the
offers are transparent, non-predatory and non-discriminatory.
• On 8 August 2016, TRAI made the tenth amendment to the TCPR (Telecom Consumers
Protection Regulations) permitting telecom companies to offer data packs having a 365 day
validity at maximum.
• The issuance of a number of international and national long-distance licenses has created
opportunities and attracted new companies into the market.
• As of January 2019, Airtel becomes the first operator to launch high speed data service in
Andaman and Nicobar Island.
• Vodafone India and Idea have merged to form Vodafone idea which is unifying assets and
aims to complete network integration by June 2020.

Future for the industry-

• According to Ericsson Mobility Report November 2018, India’s mobile subscriber base is
expected to reach 1,420 million by 2024 from 1,200 million in 2018, with 80 percent users
having 4G connection.

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 • Internet penetration is expected to grow steadily and is likely to be bolstered by government
policy.
• To encourage a cashless economy, Indian government announced to provide free Wi-fi to
more than 1,000 gram panchayats.
• TRAI has made several recommendations for the development of telecom infrastructure,
including tax benefits and recognizing telecom infrastructure as essential infrastructure.
• India is expected to be the second largest market in 5G services followed by China in the
next 10 years according to the DoT Report of April 2020.

The inclination of a customer to leave the services of one service provider in lieu of those offered by
another service provider is termed as churnand that is what has happened in recent past after the
introduction of Reliance Jio in Indian telecom Industry.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, popularly known as Jio, is an Indian mobile network operator. It is
owned by Reliance Industries and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Mukesh Ambani is the
chairman and Pravir Kumar is the CEO of Jio. LYF is a subsidiary of Jio. Jio provides 4G LTE services
and is the only VoLTE (Voice over LTE) service provider in India. It operates a national Long-Term
Evolution (LTE) network with coverage across all 22 telecom circles. It doesn't offer 2G or 3G services
and to provide voice service on its network, it uses Voice over LTE (VoLTE). The launch of Reliance
Jio has caused a revolution in the telecom industry. It is the world's largest data network, based on
mobile data consumption.

Jio's internet service uses fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology that enables the delivery of high-
speed internet services. Jio owns spectrums in 850 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in India's 22 circles and
also owns a pan-India licensed 2300 MHz spectrum. The spectrum is valid until 2035. Jio shares the
spectrum with Reliance communications. The sharing deal is for 800 MHz band across seven circles
other than the 10 circles for which Jio already owns. In September 2016, Jio signed a pact with BSNL
for intra-circle roaming which would enable users of the operators to use each other's 4G and 2G
spectrum in national roaming mode. In February 2017, Jio announced a partnership with Samsung to
work on LTE-Advanced Pro and 5G.

History:

Jio was launched on December 27, 2015 (the eve of what would have been the 83rd birthday of Reliance
Industries founder Dhirubhai Ambani), with a beta for partners and employees and became publicly

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available on September 5, 2016. As of now, it is the largest mobile network operator in India and the
second largest single operator in the world with over 380 million subscribers.

The company was registered in Ambawadi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 15 February 2007 as Reliance Jio
Infocomm Limited. In June 2010, after the broadband wireless auction (BWA), Reliance Industries
(RIL) bought a 95% stake in Infotel Broadband Services Limited (IBSL) for Rs. 4,800 crore (US$670
million). Although unlisted, IBSL was the only company that won broadband spectrum in all 22 circles
in India in the 4G auction that took place earlier that year. Later continuing as RIL’s telecom subsidiary,
Infotel Broadband Services Limited was renamed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) in January
2013.

In June 2015, Jio announced that it would start its operations all over the country by the end of 2015.
However, four months later in October, the company’s spokesmen sent out a press release stating that
the launch was postponed to the first quarter of the financial year 2016–2017. In March 2016, Jio
provided free Wi-Fi services at 6 cricket stadiums hosting the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 tournament
matches. In May 2016, Jio multimedia apps bundle was launched on Google Play Store.

The company commercially launched its services on 5 September 2016 with an introductory ‘Welcome
Offer’. ‘Welcome Offer’ was later rebranded as ‘Happy New Year Offer’ with slight changes. Within
the first month, Jio announced that it had acquired 16 million subscribers. This is the fastest ramp-up by
any mobile network operator anywhere in the world. Jio crossed 50 million subscriber mark in 83 days
since its launch, subsequently crossing 100 million subscribers on 22 February 2017. By October 2017 it
had about 130 million subscribers. Jio has worked with all the leading device manufacturers of the world
to ensure the availability of 4G LTE smartphones across all price points – from ultra-premium models
on one hand to entry-level models on the other. Jio had earlier partnered with Intex to make 4G enabled
smartphones, but later launched its own LYF series of smartphones with VoLTE support. The company
is soon planning to launch LTE enabled smartphones as well. On 5 July 2018, fixed-line broadband
service named Gigafiber, was launched by the Reliance Industries Limited’s chairman Mukesh Ambani,
during the company’s Annual General Meeting.

The four-year-old phenomenon could be a perfect case study of a disruptive business model in a hyper-
competitive telecom sector in a country of a billion people, most deprived of the internet before 2016 or
had access to expensive mobile data.

”The idea of Jio was first seeded by my daughter, Isha, in 2011. She was a student at Yale (in the US)
and was home for holidays. She wanted to submit some coursework and she said, ’Dad, the internet in
our house sucks’,” Mukesh Ambani had told an audience in London in March 2018 after receiving the
Financial Times-ArcelorMittal award for “boldness in business".

Born out of that idea was a mobile services provider which took the revolutionary step of making voice
calls completely free and brought data prices to rock-bottom. Jio became a company whose identity was
in stark contrast with that of a traditional telecom company that made money by selling SIM cards. At a
time when India did not have enough 4G enabled handsets, Reliance also launched a 4G LTE feature
phone called Jio Phone in 2017, which was offered free to customers for a refundable security deposit of
₹1,500.

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What is perhaps most interesting is that Jio is the only Reliance Company to have its own logo. All other
companies across retail and energy under the Reliance umbrella use the old company logo. Not many
know that the idea to have a different logo that would stand out from the rest of the businesses and
identity of the “old Reliance" was Isha Ambani’s brainchild. She convinced the family to go for a new
Jio logo which comes in eight primary colors, unlike the Reliance logo. Isha worked with a German
designer to bring out the new logo in eight festive colors of India to represent the diversity of the
country.

Isha and her twin brother Akash represent the face of “new Reliance" and are not just active in the
youngest Reliance company but have also taken center-stage in the last two annual general meetings and
have showcased what the future Reliance has to offer. In the last RIL AGM on 12 August, the twins
displayed the latest technologies that Jio had been working on and how its latest wired broadband
offering JioFiber could change the way India lives and does business. Combining high-speed internet,
telephony, television and movies, JioFiber will offer additional features for home security, multiplayer
gaming, multiparty video conferencing, virtual shopping and immersive viewing through wearable
headsets. That Jio never intended to be a traditional telco but a complete digital services platform can
also be seen from the string of acquisitions and investments it made even before it commercially
launched operations in September 2016. In fact, from July 2016 to August 2019, it acquired stakes in 18
companies across sectors such as artificial intelligence, media, entertainment, software simulation,
logistics, music streaming. Not a single company of these 18 firms was in the traditional mobile services
space.

Going forward, the new Reliance, which aims to get 50% revenue from its consumer business such as
retail and telecom, plans to leverage its network to create business models in areas such as education,
health, entertainment, banking, etc. The company wants India to take the lead in internet services in
areas such as smart devices, energy, and digital transactions. Reliance expects that in the next two years,
there will be more than 2 billion connected IoT (internet of things) devices in our country and Jio aims
to connect at least 1 billion of them on its IoT platform, which is expected to be a ₹20,000-crore a year
revenue opportunity. 5G will also be a significant milestone for the company. The future is bright, as
Ambani pointed out in the company’s AGM last month. “Before Jio, India was data dark. And now with
Jio, India is data shining bright".

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 Objective, Scope and Limitations

Objective-

Through this study we would try to establish the various effects that the telecom industry and its
components had to face with the entry of Jio in the industry. This would be done by studying the
different changes that occurred in the industry as a whole, on the competitors of Jio and the changes in
the market composition of the industry. The main objective of this study is to find out the impact that the
common people and telecom industry has faced as a whole due to the entrance of Reliance Jio.

The objectives to carry out this research could be classified into two parts-

1. Impact of Jio on the players in the Telecom Industry and the Telecom Industry as a whole.
2. The impact of Jio on consumer behavior and their mobile data and call using habits.

Scope-

The aim of this study is to understand the effect of Reliance Jio on its competitors as well as the
consumer behavior. For this purpose, a population of mobile phone users in India has been studied and a
sample of 101 respondents from the urban parts of the country has been taken with the help of an online
survey to study the changes in consumer behavior and existing reports and studies have been analyzed to
study the effect on Jio’s competitors in the telecom market. The survey was conducted over a period of 2
weeks.

Through the survey, consumer behavior has been studied by taking into account changes in data usage,
calling services usage, awareness about products launched by Jio, quality of services provided by the
operators and fall in tariffs.

Through the secondary data, attempt has been made to study the impact of Jio on the subscriber base,
revenue, profit, marketing techniques, innovation, mergers and acquisitions, investments in the telecom
sector.

By studying the data collected from the primary and secondary sources, the impact of Reliance Jio on
the telecom market and on the consumer behavior has been analyzed.

Limitations-

1. Respondents to the survey belong only to the urban parts of the country and rural population had
not been included. Therefore, this survey does not provide us with the details of changes in the
behavior of rural subscribers.
2. Since the survey was conducted online, respondents without access to internet could not
participate in the survey conducted and hence, the survey conducted excludes the population

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 which still does not have access to the internet despite the changing dynamics of the telecom
sector.
3. The respondents to the survey are majorly in the age group of 20-29 years. The sample
population includes very few people from the age group of 30-50 years and does not include
subscribers below the age of 19, both of which comprise of a major chunk of telecom
subscribers.
4. Respondents other than students and employees (including self-employed) form only a small
percentage of the sample population.

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 Methodology
Research methods are specific procedures for collecting and analyzing data.For the purpose of this
study, both qualitative and quantitative data has been used.

Quantitative data deals with numbers and statistics and is used to test or confirm theories or
assumptions and can also be used to establish generalized facts about research areas.

Qualitative data deals with words, meanings and interpretations and used to understand the concepts,
thoughts and experiences thereby enabling the researcher to gather in depth insights on the research area.

Data sources-

Secondary Data- The first objective required to analyze and study various published articles, findings
and case studies to study the impact of Jio on the telecom Industry which would have not been possible
by conducting a survey. The data was collected through external sources like data published by the
government through TRAI (Telecom Regulation Authority of India) and also through published research
papers and case studies available online.

Primary Data- For the second objective of the project, namely, impact of the launch of Jio on customer
behavior and usage, a sample survey was conducted to understand general characteristics of a
population.A substantial part of the research is based on first-hand information provided by the sample
and analysis has been made by the data collected. A structured Questionnaire in the form of an Online
Survey was used to collect primary data directly from the respondents. Survey in the form of an online
custom webpage was used. The specific tool is “Google Forms” which enables every individual to create
their own custom structured questionnaire and easily share it online. The data was collected over a
period of 2 weeks. The survey consisted of 29 questions and the aim was to cover at least 75
respondents. The questions were binary answer based (yes or no), a list of options with a single answer
possible as well as a list of options with multiple answers possible. The survey thereby received an
overwhelming response and has recorded answers provided by over 100 respondents. The data obtained
from the survey has been analyzed using graphical representation with the help of Google Forms and
Microsoft Excel. Pie charts and bar graphs are the main form of representation.

Sampling Method- Convenience Sampling- A convenience sample simply includes the individuals who
happen to be most accessible to the researcher. This method of sampling has been used while conducting
the survey due to the difficulty in approaching respondents physically.

Also, for the purpose of study, users were approached irrespective of the telecom operator they used to
get a true picture of the effect of Jio on the consumers, irrespective of their telecom operator.

Primary data has been used to get ground report directly from the users of telecom operators and
secondary data has been used to understand the industry in a wider sense and thereafter derive
appropriate conclusions on the basis of both.

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 Literature Review
Disruptions in Indian Telecom Sector- Thisis a qualitative Study on Reliance Jio by Sahil Singh
Jasrotia, Roop Lal Sharma and Hari Govind Mishra. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the impact
of RJio (Reliance Jio) on Indian Telecom Industry. The study talks about how Reliance Jio posed a
threat on the existence of it’s established competitors. It’s entry caused disruptions in the share price or
players like Bharti Airtel as well as fall in revenues of all it’s competitors, like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone,
Idea etc. Rjio’s entry also led to the merger of Idea Cellular and Vodafone. Reliance Communications
also had to shut most of its wireless operations. Reliance Jio also affected employment in India due to
mergers and closing of operations of the established players in the telecom market.
The study also talks about seven factors namely, which are tariff, speed of internet data, brand
endorsement, value added services, image of service provider, brand image and innovative company
which were used in influencing customers to churn from other telecom operators towards Reliance Jio.
These were derived using axial coding on a number of statements made during the conducted interviews.
Reliance Jio has brought a revolution in Indian telecom market by introducing free 4G data and voice
calling leading to gain huge Indian market and reaching 100 million subscribers within one year of
incorporation. In addition, high speed internet is the demand of every customer but they also need to pay
higher price to obtain high-speed internet data. Reliance Jio brought a change by providing high speed
internet data at cheaper and affordable rates which was not a trend, earlier telecom operators use to
charge more prices in order to have access to high speed data. To catch the public eye, Reliance initially
used PM Modi in its advertisements which influenced customers as he is a public figure and Prime
minister of India which took Reliance Jio to gain word of mouth publicity and achieve more subscribers.
In case of value added services, RJio offered them free of cost while the established players were
charging the customers previously. To add to it, Mukesh Ambani’s image as an influential businessman
helped attract customers as compared to its competitors. The strong brand image created by Jio, be it by
word of mouth or the services provided, helped clock in more customers. Lastly, the innovations brought
about by jio has brought a revolution in the telecom sector by providing a lot of value added services
free of cost as compared to being charged heavily in the past.

The Impact of Jio on Indian Telecom Industry-This study by Muhammed Thayyib. K talks about the
impact of Reliance Jio on the telecom industry as a whole. It takes into account the study conducted by
academicians based on a survey on the dealers of SIM cards. The dealers undoubtedly specify that
advent of jio decreases the sale of all other companies SIM cards, high level of satisfaction enjoyed by
customers of jio and increase in the sale of smart-phones. The research paper also mentions that since
Reliance is providing 4G services, it would occupy the primary slot in the 4G smart-phones, might lead
to customers shifting from broadband services to Jio and the free calls would make the subscribers use
their jio number leading to the capturing of 50% of the market share by Jio within 3 months of its
launch. The research paper also talks about Jio’s marketing strategies like- having the best broadband
network, affordable 4G smart-phones(JioLYF) and wireless IP devices(LTE router), compelling
applications and content through various applications supported by Jio, superior customer service like
reduced on-boarding time, e-KYC and affordable and simple tariff plans.
Impact of Reliance JIO on the Indian Telecom Industry- This study by NoorulHaqaims to analyze
the impact of Reliance Jio's launch on the customers and other market players. This research paper
discusses every aspect of the telecom industry to get a clearer picture. Various references and data
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sources were analyzed, and the overall impact on the net revenue, subscriber base, and profitability of
the companies is taken into consideration to draw valid comparisons. To start with, parallels are drawn
between Reliance Communications' boom and the rise of Reliance Jio both of which caused disruptions
in the market of the incumbent players. Attractive offers, which were the soul of the marketing strategy,
are discussed next. The shift in the subscriber base between the players is analyzed with stats and figures
which clearly explain the churn from other telecom operators towards Reliance Jio. The growth of the
smartphone industry and the entry of international streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are
among the reasons cited behind the surge in the demand for high-speed mobile data and the market
space created for cheap 4G services. As this opportunity was grabbed by Jio, it has started a never-
ending price war, and this competition with Jio on tariffs and increased capital expenditure from the up-
gradation of networks is an added pain to the balance sheet of other players who are facing heavy
penalties issued by DoT. The growth rate of Jio's income and falling revenues and profits of other
companies are discussed next. The comparisons between various data and calling plans are drawn next,
to analyze the past and current situation of the price war waged between Jio and the other players.
Lastly, the study is concluded by discussing three after-effects of Jio on Indian startups, which are, (i)
Data is the New Oil, which discusses the absolute power of information and states that information will
lead India out of poverty, and out of misery.

(ii) More Internet Users Means More Customers for Internet Startups, Entice the end-user with free
calls, and then tempt him with cheap data. Once this habit is formed, it won‘t be difficult to convince the
user to use more and more data. This will cause an explosion of new data users, all over the country.

(iii) Massive Investment in Visual & Delivery of Content is Anticipated, it aims at the strategy to
monetize content, delivered via 4G.

From the above discussions, it can be observed that after the entry of Reliance Jio Infocomm in
telecommunication industry, the economic structure of the market is still the same but, the level of
competition has grown unexpectedly, which has resulted in various types of benefits provided by the
service providers are being availed by the consumer.

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 Executive Summary
With a subscriber base of 1.18 billion, India is the world’s second largest telecom market contributing
approximately 8.2 per cent to the GDP by 2020. In 2016, India stood third highest in terms of the
number of internet users in the world to now holding the distinction for the largest consumer of mobile
data globally. India also offers the cheapest mobile data in the world currently at around INR 12 per GB
of 4G data. Until 2016, this stood at almost INR 250 plus. The fall in prices is attributed to the advent of
Reliance Jio. Mobile has now emerged as the main platform for internet access in India, bringing
connectivity to many previously unconnected populations. This has also led to an increase in
applications downloaded by the users, resulting in around 100 million applications downloaded every
month across different platforms such as iOS and Android.

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of Reliance Jio on the telecom industry as a whole,
on its competitors and the changes in the market composition. It also aims to study the changes in
consumer behavior since the advent of Jio.

For the purpose of study, both qualitative and quantitative data has been used from primary and
secondary data sources. An online survey with 29 questions was conducted through Google Forms
which received around 100 responses. The data has been analyzed with the help of graphs and pie
charts. Secondary data has been collected from various Government Reports and previously published
studies and press releases. Thus, primary data has been used to get ground report directly from the users
of telecom operators and secondary data has been used to understand the industry in a wider sense and
thereafter derive appropriate conclusions on the basis of both.

In India, the telecom market is majorly dominated by the private sector currently, with a share of 88.60
per cent. The 3 main private players in the telecom market at present are Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and
Vodafone Idea. The fourth largest player in the telecom market is state owned BSNL. The market had
around 12 market players in 2016.

FDI in the telecom sector has been increased from 74 per cent to 100 per cent. According to the
Department of Telecommunications Report, 2020, India is expected to become the second largest
market for 5G services followed by China in the next 10 years.

The inclination of a customer to leave the services of one telecom service provider in lieu of those
provided by another player in termed as churn. The telecom industry experienced this phenomenon with
the advent of Jio.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, popularly known as Jio, was launched on December 27, 2015 as a
beta version for partners and employees and commercially on September 5, 2016. It became the largest
telecom operator in the country, in terms of revenue and subscribers, and the second largest in the world
in around 3 years of its existence.

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Mukesh Ambani, at the Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries announced the commercial
launch of Reliance Jio and emphasizing the importance of digitalization and the dedication towards the
Prime Minister’s goal of Digital India for all Indians. He mentioned the 5 pillars on which Jio would
function, namely, the best quality broadband network with the highest capacity; a world of affordable,
cutting-edge devices; compelling applications and content; superior digital service experiences; and
affordable and simple tariffs. However, Reliance Jio tried to make its presence known in the market way
before it started its commercial operations on September 5, 2016.

In April 2015, JioChat was launched to provide services similar to those of WhatsApp. According to
the company statement, by December 2015 the application had already been downloaded by over 2
million people in nine countries including the USA, UK and China among others. In April 2015 they
also tested their Wi-Fi services with the launch of JioNet by providing free Wi-Fi services of the
spectators at Wankhede Stadium during the One Day Series of India and South Africa, thereby
witnessing record data usage. The same services were provided in 2016 during the T20 World Cup
matches at 6 stadiums.

Since Jio was essentially a VoLTE service provider, it had to ensure its subscribers had access to a 4G
enabled handset and one with VoLTE feature to enable voice calling over its network. Therefore, in June
2015, it entered into an agreement with Airtel to supply 4G handsets capable of voice over LTE
(VoLTE). However, by October 2015 they announced the launch of their own smartphone- LYF. LYF is
a subsidiary of Jio. In January 2016, they launched the LYF phone named after the four elements-
Earth, Flame (fire), Water and Wind, eventually becoming the fifth largest smartphone producer in the
country by the end of the year. However, as per the survey conducted, only 39.6 per cent of the
respondents were aware of JioLYF while only 1 per cent of the respondents used it.

Jio launched the “Jio Preview Offer” in May 2016, under which all users enjoyed free and unlimited
access to Jio’s services for a period of 90 days. This offer helped Reliance Jio to propel the sales of its
LYF smartphone. Telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea protested against Jio’s offer
claiming that Jio was offering full fledged services under the name of trial testing thereby poaching their
customers.

To lure customers to its network, Jio introduced “Jio Welcome Offer”, offering services free of cost to
its subscribers, including unlimited LTE national data and voice calls, no roaming and access to a
bouquet of applications provided by Jio, up to December 31, 2016. Jio also announced that calls to any
network by its customers would be free even beyond December 31, 2016. To further attract customers
Jio also enabled Aadhar based SIM card activation which made the SIM activation process relatively
hassle free and quick. By December they also introduced free home delivery of SIM cards, the feature
was available through the MyJio app.

In response to the price war started and free services offered by Reliance Jio, incumbents such as Bharti
Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and BSNL among others slashed their tariff prices or provided additional data
benefits at the existing tariffs. The incumbents did not stop at the price reductions. According to Jio,

15
they also did not provide enough POIs thereby causing its subscribers to deal with call drops. Another
issue raised by Jio was that the three main telecom operators, namely, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea
also refused customers to port their numbers to Jio, in violation of the licensing norms.

Jio Welcome Offer enabled Jio to create a world record by enrolling over 16 million subscribers in 26
days, faster than any other telecom operator or startup in the world, further securing 50 million
subscribers in record 83 days and 100 million users in record breaking 170 days.

Towards the end of its “Jio Welcome Offer”, Jio launched its “Happy New Year Offer” continuing the
free benefits up to March 31, 2017. However, they limited the data usage to 1GB of 4G data per day per
customer. Airtel, Vodafone, Idea etc. further reduced their tariffs to compete with Jio and to retain their
subscribers. For instance, Airtel launched plans offering free voice calls to customers anywhere in the
country whereas Vodafone launched “SuperHour” for its prepaid customers, allowing them to use
unlimited data at a fixed hourly price. Vodafone also allowed free access to VODAFONE PLAY up to
March 31, 2017. Reliance Jio was the first telecom operator in the country to launch similar tariff plans
all over the country, with no differential plans for each state and also eliminated charged on roaming,
which formed a major chunk of mobile phone bills.

Jio partnered with the then newly launched iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Pokémon Go among others to
increase their subscriber base.

Thus, a price war was launched by Jio and the incumbents were retaliating to it to save their market
share from undergoing damage.

In May 2016, JioMoney was launched, thereby becoming the second application launched by Reliance
Jio after JioChat. JioChat allowed customers to make payment for bills, mobile recharges and insurance
premiums, as well as shop online. In December 2016, JioMoney Merchant Solution was launched
enabling digital transactions of all types, from Mandis to small shops to restaurants to ticket counters to
railway, buss and mass transit as well as person to person money transfers. Telecom major Bharti Airtel
was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016. In August 2015, Reliance Industries
received a license from RBI to run a payments bank. They entered into a Joint Venture with State Bank
of India in a ratio of 70:30, starting operating in 2018.

In April 2017, Jio announced “Jio Prime Membership” with special benefits of up to INR 10000 with
various other deals announced by Jio and its partners, for its exclusive 100 million subscribers as a token
of gratitude. The membership came with a onetime enrollment free of INR 99 and an introductory price
of INR 303 per month, and almost within a month of the announcement, Jio got on board 72 million
Prime Members. Shortly after this, they released their Jio Summer Surprise Offer, which allowed its
Prime Members to enjoy 3 months of complementary services and for them the tariff plan would be
applicable thereafter in July. However, due to a TRAI order, they had to rollback the offer and
introduced Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan plans starting at INR 309, providing unlimited calls, SMS and data
(1GB of 4G data per day) for first 3 months on first recharge.

16
India was ranked 155th in terms of mobile broadband penetration, by International Telecommunications
Union, before the launch of Jio. By October 2017, within one year of its launch, India had become the
largest user in terms of data consumption. As of September 2017, Jio had the largest share of
broadband market, followed by Bharti Airtel. Price of data had reduced from INR 200 plus in 2015 to
INR 10 per GB in 2017. Within a year of operations, Jio became the 5th largest subscriber in terms of
market share. Thus, a price war was started in the telecom market and the shots were being called by
Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio.

In August 2017, Jio launched its own smartphone- JioPhone, a 4G LTE phone, with a goal to reduce the
price of entry level phones as much as possible. The JioPhone was made available to the users at a net
effective price of INR 0. The user had to make a refundable deposit of INR 1500 which was refundable
on return of the used phone after 36 months. It reached 100 million users in around a year’s time. By
the end of 2017, it became the leader in the smartphone market in India surpassing brands like Samsung,
Micromax, Nokia, etc. JioPhone 2 was launched a year later at a price of INR 2999 and JioPhone is set
to launch in 2020. JioPhone saw the transition of over 100 million erstwhile 2G users to the 4G network
since its launch, thereby allowing Jio to added users to its customer base. It used sachet pricing to attract
price sensitive customers. Jio tapped the growing feature phone market in India and used it to its own
advantage. As per the survey conducted, none of the respondents used a Jio Phone.

On the third anniversary of the launch of its services, Jio launched JioFiber broadband services across
the country with a launch offer of free set-up box, zero installation charges and a complimentary pack of
1-2 months. Jio’s all fiber broadband service aims to start at 100MBps and go all the way upto 1GBps,
which would propel India to the top 5 broadband nations globally. They introduced the JioFiber
Welcome Offer, where the subscriber would get unprecedented value on subscribing to JioForever
annual plans, such as Jio Home Gateway, Jio 4K Set Top Box, Television Set (in Gold plan and above),
Subscription to one's favorite OTT apps, and unlimited Voice and Data. Other telecom competitors have
also entered the market. BSNL, Airtel and Hathway are slashing prices to survive the race, however,
Jio’s system of bundling a lot of other benefits could prove to be a differentiator. The most at risk
companies due to this at DTH operators.

Jio is not just taking the telecom sector by storm, but also plans to take the online grocery specialists
such as Grofers, Big Basket and large e-retailer with grocery delivery plans, such as Amazon and
Walmart-backed Flipkart. JioMart would serve as an aggregator between customers and nearby stores
while serving as a procurement and delivery channel between manufacturers and merchants. JioMart is
looking forward to operating through Facebook owned WhatsApp, thereby proving the investment of
Facebook in Jio to be highly strategic.

In the years to come, Jio with its 5G ready network and extensive fiber assets would play a pivotal role
in the development of the 5G ecosystem in the country as they are preparing to launch 5G telecom
services within 6 months of spectrum allocation. Both Jio and Airtel have indicated development of
MIMO, NFV and SDN to get their networks 5G ready. The biggest roadblock for any telecom company

17
on the 5G front is going to be steep spectrum prices. Global investment in the 5G industrial chain over
2020-2035 is likely to reach $3.5 trillion.

Jio has had a massive impact on the subscriber base and revenue stream of its incumbents by gaining
subscribers are record breaking speed since its launch. Within a year it gained 13.46 per cent of the
market share. Even after the exhaustion of its free services period, it continued to gain market share.
After almost 2 years, Jio had gained 23.51 per cent market share, second only to Airtel. In November
2019, Jio surpassed all the incumbents to become the largest telecom player in the market both in
terms of market share and revenue with over 369 million subscribers. By March 2020, they had
breached the 380 million subscriber mark. They reported a net profit of INR 5,562 crores in March
2020, whereas Bharti Airtel reported a loss of INR 36,088.20 crores, Vodafone Idea of INR 61,183.60
crores and BSNL a loss of INR 14,904.24 crores. In 2020, Jio reported total income of INR 54,316
crores, Airtel of INR 54,360 crores, Vodafone Idea of INR 33,042.8 (till Q3 of FY 2020) and BSNL of
INR 19,320.67. Thus, Jio had eaten into the subscribers, revenue and profits of its incumbents since its
launch. As per the survey conducted, among the 101 respondents, 60.4 per cent were subscribers to Jio.
Jio not just added these users during the free services period but even after that. Some users switched to
Jio completely while others used both their previous operator as well as Jio. Among others,
free/cheaper data, lower call rates and reduction in monthly mobile bills were the main drivers of
motivation to join Jio.

Intense competition unleashed by Jio saw a spate of mergers and acquisition in the telecom space.
Reliance Communication (RCom) had taken over MTS in June 2016, followed by a merger of RCom
and Aircel in September 2016. Airtel and Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Limited, formerly known
as Uninor were merged together in February 2017. Thereafter, Vodafone and Idea announced their
merger to become Vodafone Idea overtaking Airtel to become the market leader in terms of number of
subscribers. However, later on, Jio surpassed Vodafone Idea. These mergers and acquisitions happened
as a direct result of the predatory pricing introduced by Reliance Jio.

From 22 April to 18 June, Jio Platforms had raised a total of INR 115,693.95 crore in exchange for a
24.7 per cent stake from leading investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity, Generic
Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, TPG, L. Catterton
and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. With these investments and INR 53,124.20 crore rights
issue, RIL has now become debt free. Jio has also invested in a number of companies over the years
such as Saavn, Den, Datacom and Hathaway and Haptik to strengthen its foothold in the telecom
market.

Since the advent of Jio, people’s consumption habits have changed. As per the survey conducted, users
have started streaming videos in higher quality services, consuming more data daily than they did
monthly, their mobile bills have fallen, usage of calling services has increased among others. Thus, in
the price war so aggressively started by Reliance Jio, the ultimate winner seems to be the customer
and thus India may truly be moving towards a digital life. The quality of services provided as well as the

18
number of benefits available to the subscribers would both play a key role in determining the success of
the companies in the market.

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 Data & Analysis
On September 1, 2016, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“Jio”) announced the launch of their digital
services with Jio Welcome Offer, to be effective from September 5, 2016. The announcement for the
same was made by the Chairman of Reliance Industries himself, Mukesh Ambani, at the Annual General
Meeting of Reliance Industries, who emphasized the benefits of digitalization and dedication of Jio
towards realizing the Prime Minister’s vision of a “Digital India” for its 1.2 billion citizens.
Mr. Ambani mentioned in his speech the 5 pillars on which Jio would function-

1. The best quality broadband network with the highest capacity;

2. A world of affordable, cutting-edge devices;
3. Compelling applications and content;
4. Superior digital service experiences; and
5. Affordable and simple tariffs.

He also mentioned that the key brand values for Jio included affordable, high quality and abundant data;
connected intelligence; smart, simple and secure services; and bringing people together.

How Jio entered the telecom market-

However, Reliance Jio started testing its applications and services even before the launch of their
products. In April 2015, the firm had already launched JioChat, similar in nature to the widely popular
WhatsApp and had a lineup of applications waiting to be launched in the preceding months on the lines
of Google Drive, Newshunt, iTunes and Apple Wallet. According to a company statement released on 4
December 2015, the application had already been downloaded by over 2 million people in nine countries
including the US, UK, China, the UAE, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Singapore.

Since Jio was essentially a VoLTE service provider, it realized that its subscribers would not only have
to buy a handset that is 4G-enabled but one that necessarily features VoLTE, too, if they also want to
make voice calls. Back then not all 4G-enabled smartphones in India featured VoLTE. It was then that
several smartphone brands announced exclusive sales and distribution partnerships with Reliance Retail
Ltd to enhance the availability and sales of their upcoming VoLTE and VoWiFi devices across India. In
June 2015, Jio entered into an agreement with domestic handset maker Intex to supply 4G handsets
capable of voice over LTE (VoLTE).

However, in October 2015, Jio announced the launch of its own smartphone- LYF. In January 2016, the
first 4G enabled smartphone was launched named after the four elements- Earth, Flame (fire), Water and
Wind. By May 2016, International Market Tracker, Counterpoint Research reported that LYF had
captured 7% market share in the last quarter of the financial year ending 2016, thereby becoming the
fifth largest smartphone producer in the Indian market. It was also the largest LTE phone supplier,
surpassing Micromax and Lenevo during the quarter, second only to Samsung. Around 1.7 million LYF
branded smartphones had been shipped in the first quarter of 2016. LYF phones were manufactured by
Chinese handset maker ZTE Corporation, Intex, as well as ODMs like CK Telecom Limited, Wingtech,
and Wiko.

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R-Jio tested its Wi-Fi services in April 2015 when it launched Jionet. The company also tested the Wi-
Fi service for customers at Wankhede Stadium during India and South Africa One-Day series in April
2015, where the company witnessed a record data usage, irrespective of the telecom operator used by the
spectators. During the match, 14500 out of 27500 used over 2,000 GB data on the Wi-Fi. The highest
usage was for video streaming of content.The telecom network operator also shared some comparison
showing the Wi-Fi user experience at some of the best sporting events in the world. They repeated the
same free offering during the 2016 T20 World Cup matches at 6 stadiums.

Jio Digital Startup Fund-

Jio announced the setting up of the “Jio Digital India Start-up Fund” for which INR 5000 crore had set
aie to be invested over the next 5 years. Jio would work towards establishing Jio Digital
Entrepreneurship Hubs in important Indian cities and towns.

Jio Preview Offer-

Jio’s extremely popular Jio Preview Offer which was launched in May 2016. Under this offer, users get
free and unlimited access to Jio’s services for a 90-days period. The preview offer was extended to a
slew of smartphones brands ranging from domestic players like YU and Intex to bigger brands like
Samsung. The popularity of the preview offer had helped propel sales of Reliance Jio s VoLTE enabled
LYF smartphones.
The telecos like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea protested against Jio’s 90 days free trial offer which had
roped in 3 million users even before its commercial launch. They claimed that Jio was running full
fledged services under the disguise of trial testing and poaching their customers by offering free trials.
Jio on the other hand accused these telecos of vilifying Jio’s campaign and trying to sabotage its market
entry.
The telecos, under the umbrella of COAI- Cellular Operators’ Association of India, wrote a letter
alleging that the government was losing revenue because of Jio. Under the brand LYF, Jio was using the
spectrum allocated only for commercial use, however not yielding any revenue and thereby not paying
the government. Their main accusation was that Jio had already been carrying out full blown
commercial services in the garb of test runs.

Jio Welcome Offer-

Initially, the Jio Welcome Offer was to lure new users to avail the services offered by Jio, all free of
cost. Beginning September 5, 2016, all subscribers under the offer would be entitled to certain benefits
such as access to unlimited LTE data and national voice, video and messaging services, including
national roaming, along with the full bouquet of Jio applications and content, completely free up to
December 31, 2016.

Jio also communicated the reason for offering its subscribers the Welcome Offer in its press release
dated September 2, 2016. They stated the following reasons-

• every Indian enjoys Jio Digital Life and do Datagiri;

• users get to experience and get comfortable with Jio’s digital services;
• users could personalize Jio’s offerings in a manner that best fits their usage;

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 • Jio gets to test and stabilize its interconnect with other operators and to ensure superior voice
quality for calls to other networks; and
• Jio and Jio customers get to co-create and build the best network experience together.

Apart from the Welcome Offer, Jio also announced that calls to any network across the country would
always be available free of cost to Jio Customers, even beyond December 31, 2016. However, the
scenario changed in due course of time and is discussed in detail at a later stage in the report. Also, the
test users of the company, enrolled under the “Jio Preview Offer” would be moved to the Welcome
Offer.

To lure in more customers, Jio also introduced Aadhar based paper-less Jio SIM activation across 3100
Indian cities and towns. This move would enable customers to achieve activation of their SIM in a quick
manner, only with their Aadhar number.

Prior to the entry of Jio, the top three telecom companies in India were Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, with
combined revenues of INR 166000 crore and net profits of INR 12000 crore.

In 2002, when Reliance Communications (RComm) entered the market, they gave away bundled phone
instruments, offered free incoming calls and lowered calling rates to half. The then rivals matched the
offer by pushing the prices down and leading the industry to its inflection point, thereby making India
the fastest growing telecom market for seven straight years.

Similarly, to deal with the infusion of Reliance Jio in the telecom market, incumbents such as Bharti
Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and BSNL were all set to offer competitive pricing in response to the price war
initiated by Reliance Jio. The telecos brought about the following changes in the tariff in response to
the price war initiated by Reliance Jio-

1. Airtel slashed its internet prepaid tariffs to 80 per cent and over 150 per cent for its corporate
customers, bringing them down to as low as INR 51/GB and INR 99.5/GB respectively. This
meant customers would have had to spend INR 1498 for 1GB of 3G/4G data upfront and post
exhaustion, the customers could use 1GB of 3G/4G data for INR 51 by recharging subsequently,
valid for a period of 12 months. If compared to the then existing industry norm, 1GB of 3G/4G
data cost a customer more than INR 250.
2. Vodafone India did not initially slice the cost of the plans, but provided additional data at the
same cost. They increased their data quota for 4G prepaid plans by up to 67 per cent, without
lowering the cost of data packs. Example, the INR 650 plan which earlier came bundled with
3GB of data, would now offer 5GB at the same price. Similarly, the INR 449 3G/4G pack now
increased the data benefit by 50 per cent to 3 GB from 2 GB. The Rs 999 3G/4G pack offered 54
per cent more benefits by offering 10GB of data.
3. Idea slashed its tariffs byupto 67 per cent. However, as compared to Vodafone and Airtel, Idea
was yet to go pan-India, hence, required more work than the other two to compete with telecos
now.
4. State owned BSNL also slashed prices for its 1GB 3G data to INR 198, lower than its previous
offering.

The incumbents did not stop at adjusting the prices for their plans and the services offered thereof, issues
were raised by Reliance Jio with regards to the existing incumbents for not providing it enough POI-

22
points of interconnection. RJio raised the issue of insufficient POIs as anti-competitive and aimed at
hindering the entry of a new operator. POIs ensure that customers who were try to make calls from one
subscriber to others can do so without facing connectivity issues.

Another issue raised by Jio was that the then three main telecom operators- Airtel, Vodafone and Idea
were refusing to port their subscribers to Jio, despite the licensing norms which permits porting after a
valid request is made. According to the letter by RJio to TRAI, all requests to port the numbers between
September 5, 2016 and September 12, 2016 had been rejected.

Despite all the hindrances, the “Jio Welcome Offer” enrolled 16 million subscribers in 26 days,
thereby creating a world record as it achieved the same faster than any other telecom operator or
start up in the world including Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype.

Within one month of Jio’s launch, byOctober 2016, the total subscribers for the market players can be
summed up as follows:

To further their foothold in the telecom market, Jio partnered with Apple around the time of the launch
of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. All new iPhone users would receive one year of complimentary Jio
Digital Services. This can be seen as a move to loop in the high end users of mobile phones as the new
users of iPhone would be able to access 300+ channels of live TV, enjoy facetime buffer-free and high
definition voice calling through Jio. The benefits available were over INR 18000 as mentioned in the
press release by Jio, including unlimited local, STD and national roaming voice, unlimited text, 20 GB
of 4G Data, 40 GB of Wi-Fi Data and Unlimited Night 4G Data, unlimited subscription to premium Jio
Applications. Apple CEO, Tim Cook, also expressed is excitement about Jio’s entry in the Indian
Telecom Market.

23
By December 1, 2016, Jio announced that it had roped in over 50 million subscribers in record 83 days,
with an average addition of 6 lakh daily subscribers, which is the fastest by any technology company in
the world.

By December, Jio had rolled out eKYC across 2 lakh outlets in India, under which activation of SIM
cards was completed in less than 5 minutes. The company reported that 95% of its activations were done
in a paperless manner through eKYC. Jio also introduced “home delivery” of SIM cards, so as to enable
enterprise and high-end customers to get a Jio SIM card home delivered and activated in 5 minutes via
eKYC. The feature was launched through the MyJio application.

Jio Happy New Year Offer-

Jio launched its Happy New Year Offer, effective from 4 December 2016, under which all Jio
subscribers would be entitled to special benefits like data, voice, full bouquet of Jio applications and
content, absolutely free, upto March 31, 2017. The existing users of Jio’s Welcome Offer would
continue enjoying the benefits and be signed up for the new offer automatically. They limited the use of
high-speed-data to 1GB per day per user, however, users requiring additional data could avail the tariffs
launched by Jio.

Jio in its press release mentioned that the reason for extending these free services beyond December 31,
2016 was that the issue of constraint of interconnection capacity from incumbent operators had
“plagued” the company for the first few months of its launch. However, with the intervention of the
Government and TRAI, the situation was improving, yet the customers had not been able to enjoy the
benefits of free HD quality calls, and therefore, Jio’s Happy New Year Offer would provide an
opportunity to all the subscribers to experience seamless Jio services.

To further their efforts to retain subscribers, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular among others,
reduced their tariffs further or offered more benefits at the same cost.

In December, 2016, Airtel for instance had launched plans offering free voice calls to customers
anywhere in India. In January 2017, Airtel also offered free data to users who would switch to Airtel 4G.
In its press release it stated that it would provide free data for 12 months, worth upto INR 9000, to
customers who would switch to Airtel 4G. Such customers would be entitled to free 3GB data per month
upto December 31, 2017, for both pre-paid and post-paid and would be available over and above the
base pack.

In January, 2017, Vodafone India tried to woo customers using a new offering. Its press release dated
January 6, 2017, stated that as part of its 200 million customer celebrations, they would offer
“SuperHour" for its prepaid customers. The offer allowed users to use as much data as they liked for an
hour for which they would have to a fixed hourly price, starting at INR 16 (varying circle to circle). The
customers can make unrestricted repeat recharges to avail super hours. It also announced that users
could stream videos and movies on VODAFONE PLAY, which had over 150+ Live TV channels, more
than 14000 movies, and a wide range of music. They also announced that subscription to VODAFONE
PLAY will be free till March 31, 2017.

Jio had launched a war and the incumbents were keen on retaliating to it, precisely to save their market
share from undergoing damage.

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Jio Money and Jio Money Merchant Solution-

Furthering the Digital India and cashless economy vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jio had
already launched Jio Money in May 2016, which became the second application offered by Reliance Jio
after Jio Chat. The Jio Money services would allow customers to make payment for bills, mobile
recharges and insurance premiums, as well as shop online. It would also allow them to send and receive
money from their friends and family. With JioMoney, customers would be able to make payments from
and for the entire Reliance ecosystem, which includes Reliance Retail, Digital Express, Reliance Fresh
and Reliance Jewels. Further to which, in its press release dated December 1, 2016, they announced Jio
Money Merchant Solution This solution provided access to Jio’s suite of services, including customized
offerings such as digital money, for a very important segment of the Indian economy. This will enable
digital transactions of all types, from Mandis to small shops to restaurants to ticket counters for railways,
bus and mass transit and even for person-to-person money transfers.

Jio Payments Bank-

Jio Payments Bank is an Indian payments bank that started operating in 2018. Payments bank is a
differentiated bank providing a limited range of products, such as acceptance of demand deposits and
remittances of funds. It can accept a restricted deposit, which is currently limited to Rs1 lakh per
customer. However, these banks cannot issue loans and credit cards. According to the new guidelines,
payments banks have been directed to get their customers’ information verified by third parties.
“Reliance on KYC done by telecom companies is not permissible," an RBI letter sent to chief executive
officers of payments banks said. Payments banks are being promoted by the Reserve Bank to further
financial inclusion by giving services such as small savings accounts, payment or remittance services to
migrant labour workforce, low income households, small businesses and unorganized sector entities as
well as other users.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sees payments banks as a faster route than
traditional banks to bring more Indians under financial coverage.Driven primarily by mobile technology,
payments banks can ease the account opening process by making it technology-based and paperless.
On August 19, 2015 Reliance Industries received a license to run a payments bank from the Reserve
Bank of India under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. It then partnered with the State
Bank of India to support this ambitious initiative of building Payments Bank capabilities for every
Indian and accordingly, Jio Payments Bank Limited, was incorporated in November 2016. Formed on
April 3, 2018, in70:30 joint venture between RIL and State Bank of India(SBI), Jio Payments Bank is
one of eight entities licensed to operate payments banks in the country. It’s the sixth payments bank
since the central bank gave in-principle approval to 11 applicants in August 2015.The launch came
within a month of Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank starting operations on February 22, 2018.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016. Paytm
founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma promoted Paytm Payments Bank began operations from May 2017 last
year while FINO Payments Bank Limited kicked-off in June 2017.
In total, payments banks that have started operations are Airtel Payments Bank Ltd, India Post Payments
Bank Ltd, Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, Fino Payments Bank Ltd, Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank, Jio
Payments Bank, Vodafone m-Pesa Ltd and National Securities Depository Ltd.Three applicants have
surrendered their licenses.

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RIL is also moving customers of its JioMoney prepaid mobile wallet to Jio Payments Bank. In August
2018, Reliance Jio integrated SBI’s Yono (You Only Need One) platform on to its MyJio mobile
app.SBIYono is an omni-channel platform offering digital banking, commerce and financial services in
one place. The features of SBI Yono can be accessed through the MyJioapplication.Reliance Jio and SBI
customers will benefit from Jio Prime, the customer loyalty programme by Reliance Jio. Jio Prime will
offer exclusive deals from Reliance Retail, Jio partner brands and merchants. As part of the deal, Jio
Prime will be integrated with SBI Rewardz, the bank’s loyalty programme to offer additional loyalty
reward earning opportunities to its customers.
SBI, the country’s largest lender, will also engage Reliance Jio as a preferred partner for designing and
providing network and connectivity solutions. The bank is looking to utilize Reliance Jio's extensive
network to facilitate services like video banking and other on-demand services.
Jio has incorporated JioMoney mobile wallet to Jio Payments Bank. JioMoney – India Ka NayaCashis a
smart app that gives you all the benefits of cash – without any of its limitations.JioMoney is a safe and
secure way of making digital payments across physical and online channels. One can make instant bill
payments, do mobile/DTH recharges, pay at thousands of online & physical stores and transfer money to
other people or bank accounts. One can link cards and bank accounts with JioMoney. It Makes Jio
Recharges in just a few clicks and offers best deals on Jio payments. It can be used to recharge prepaid
or post-paid phone connection, DTH or data card connection with the unique PayMyBill feature. It
makes simple, smart & secure bill payments efficiently to a host of billers such as Mahadiscom,
Mahanagar Gas, Reliance Landline, Airtel, Tata Sky and many more. It makes payments faster than cash
at stores with its revolutionary barcode feature or directly to a shopkeeper’s mobile number. One can
enjoy exclusive deals, discounts and coupons from JioMoney's partner brands. It can be used to book
bus tickets at the lowest price instantly. It helps in making repeat transactions at favourite shops, in just a
few clicks. It allows linking of Sodexo Meal Pass with JioMoney and make payments on the go, directly
fromsmartphone. With JioMoney, one can also enjoy the convenience of paying at any Reliance Retail
outlet – be it Reliance Fresh, Digital Express, Reliance Jewels or any other Reliance retail
business.JioMoney also enabled digitalization of Reliance One loyalty points. One can earn & redeem
Reliance One loyalty points from within the JioMoney app.
With the track record of the Reliance Group of leadership in chosen areas of businesses and large scale
roll-outs, the Payments Bank initiative is seen by Reliance as a significant opportunity to make a
transformative impact on India’s financial inclusion landscape to lead and co-create an eco-system to
provide accessible, simple and affordable banking solutions to all constituents of our country -
especially the financially excluded, to digitize payments and to act as a catalyst towards a cashless
society.

Pokemon Go Game-

Also, in December 2016, Jio announced a “delight for gamers”, by bringing in the sought after, first of
it’s kind, augmented reality game “Pokemon Go” to India in partnership with Niantic Inc., which was
the publisher and developer in association with The PokemonCompany, ofPokemon Go. The
partnership introduced many Reliance Digital Stores as “Pokestops” or “Gyms” in the game. Jio Chat
would also provide Pokemon Go players, access to an exclusive Pokemon Go channel. This enabled
Pokémon Go players to collaborate and be part of an exciting community of players with daily tips,
contests, clues, and special events. This channel would have provided a fun way to players to socialize
and level up faster in the game. This was indeed another one of Reliance Jio’s tricks to win the market
share a little bit more, as the game had game traction among the youth at an immeasurable rate in a very
less time. Jio capitalized on the popularity of the game by seeking to promote itself.

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Roaming Charges-

Jio had launched similar prices for its plans all over India, with no differential pricing for the states. And
no roaming charges. This was a first for the players in the Telecom market then. Airtel, Vodafone and
other incumbents had differential pricing for different states. In October 2016, Vodafone announced no
roaming charges on incoming calls while roaming nationally to compete with the offering of Jio and to
retain its customers. In February 2017, Airtel declared what it called a “war on roaming”. It announced
no charges on incoming calls while roaming nationally and no premium for out going calls as well,
along with no data roaming charges. These same players had previously charged customers for incoming
calls and premiums on outgoing calls as well as data usage while the customer was roaming nationally.

100 million users’ landmark and launch of Jio Prime Membership-

Reliance Jio believes in capitalizing any and every opportunity presented at its doorstep. On 21
February, 2017, Reliance Jio announced its milestone of reaching 100 million users in record breaking
170 days, with record additions of 7 new subscribers per second, for each of these 170 days. They
mentioned part of it owed to the Mobile Number Portability service that a lot of its customers had
availed to switch to Jio while using their existing numbers. According to the release, Jio had become the
world’s largest data carrier, with 100 crore GB of data traffic monthly and 200 crore voice and video
minutes a day, which in return had contributed to India leading the world in terms of mobile data usage.
It also stated that India was using nearly as much data as the United States of America and 50 per cent
more than China, indicating that India would adopt the digital life faster than any country in the world.
Reports by TRAI’s speed analytics portal and independent agencies put Jio at an average speed of 9.8
MBps against the incumbents who are in the range of 4.2 to 5.9 MBps.

In the same press release Jio announced its tariffs becoming applicable from April 1, 2017, while
offering two unique propositions for its customers- Affordable broadband data via “Everyday More-
Value Offer, and Jio Prime Membership for its 100 million existing customers.

1. Jio announced that through its “Everyday More-Value Offer, users will be provided with its own
tariffs while giving the customers an option to choose the highest selling tariff plan of any other
leading telecom operator, however with 20 per cent more data than any other operator.
2. Jio Prime Membership, which was exclusively for its existing 100 million subscribers, was a
token of gratitude from Jio and provided special benefits. One time enrollment fee of INR 99 and
an introductory price of INR 303 per month, would allow subscribers to continue the benefits
enjoyed under the Happy New Year Offer till March 31, 2018. It would also allow them to
access Jio’s full bouquet of applications absolutely free for that time, which according to the
press release translated to around INR 10,000 worth of benefits along with the various attractive
deals announce by Jio and its partners. The duration to enroll for the membership was from
March 1 to 31, 2017.

By March 31, 2017, Jio had got on board 72 million Prime Members, thereby making it one of the most
successful customer privileges programmes in the world and the largest migration from free to paid
services in history in such a short span of time. They also extended the deadline by 15 days to enroll as a
Jio Prime member. As first of the many surprises, Jio Prime members would be eligible for services for
the initial 3 months on a complementary basis and the paid tariff plan would be applied only in July of
that year under Jio Summer Surprise Offer. However, in the first week of April, after an order from

27
TRAI, Jio had to withdraw its Jio Summer Surprise Offer. Jio announced the roll back while mentioning
the launch of new “unlimited plans” under the name Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan with plans starting at INR
309, which would provide unlimited calls, SMS and data (1GB per day at 4G speed) for 3 months on
first recharge. The INR 509 plan had a similar offering with 2GB data at 4G speed per day. In July 2017,
the 1GB per day data plan was then provided at INR 399 for a period of 3 months.

In February, 2017, Vodafone, to celebrate its 200 million customer milestone, rolled out data and voice
offers for its Vodafone RED post-paid customers, starting at INR 499 (varying according to the circle),
with unlimited local and STD calls along with high data quotas. In order to compete with Jio’s Prime
Membership, Vodafone RED customers would enjoy the services of a dedicated 24x7 Relationship
Manager, who would serve as a one-point contact for addressing all the queries.

By this time, it was clear that the market had indeed placed the customer on the king’s throne, offering
new and free services, to attract and retain customer base.

Jio had its own bouquet of applications which included JioCinema, JioTV and more entertainment
content which was available for its users. Vodafone and Airtel, among others, had no such offering of
their own and hence, to have a strong foothold even in the customers in entertainment segment, they
needed to partner with existing platforms. Like Vodafone India announced a strategic partnership with
Amazon for its customers. Customers who would sign up for Amazon Prime using Vodafone’s
MyVodafoneapplication or website would receive an INR 250 cashback in their Amazon Pay Balance,
thereby becoming India’s first telecom operator to partner with Amazon.

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1 year of Jio in India
According to the International Telecommunications Union, before the launch of Jio, India was ranked
155th in terms of mobile broadband penetration. By October 2017, India had become the largest user in
terms of data consumption. According to an October 2017 Media Release by Reliance Jio, Jio users had
consumed 178 crore hours of high speed video per month thereby making Jio the largest mobile network
in the world. According to TRAI’s MySpeed application, Jio was rated as the fastest network, and its
customers received consistently high speed as compared to those of its competitors. As per results
published by TRAI, close to October 2017, Jio’s average download speed was at 18.53 MBps, almost
twice as compared to those of its competitors.

According to the same press release, in the July-September quarter of 2017, the cumulative smartphone
base in India had estimated to have reached 160 million with Jio have over 85per cent market share in
the LTE smartphone market in the country. Jio had tied up with leading smartphone OEMs such as
Apple, Asus, Intex, Lava, Samsung, Panasonic, Spice, Vivo, Xiami, OnePlus, Oppo and others to offer
attractive value propositions to its customers.

As of October 2017, India had reached around 950 million mobile subscribers according to COAI. Airtel
stood at 285.20 million subscribers, while Vodafone at 208.32 million, followed by Idea Cellular at
190.87 million subscribers. As of September 30, 2017, Jio had gained 138.6 million subscribers on its
network. Subsequently, Airtel had the highest market share, followed by Vodafone, and then Idea
Cellular.

Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

The above graph shows the market share of the telecom players in the first quarter of the financial year
2017-18.

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 Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

As of September 2017, Reliance Jio accounted for the largest share of the broadband market (both wired
and wireless) accounting to 42.67 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel at 19.17 per cent.

As per the above graph, it is very evident how post the arrival of Reliance Jio, cost per GB had come
down drastically from INR 200 plus in 2015 to about INR 10 per GB in 2017.

Thus, Jio had become the telecom operator with the 5th largest subscriber base and acquired the largest
share of the broadband market within 1 year of its operations, surpassing well established incumbents in
the market. All this was made possible by the various free offers provided by Jio to lure in customers,
and data prices at dirt cheap rate as compared to the industry norms in the pre-Jio era.

30
Prior to the entry of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea managed to increase revenue and
earnings, even as smaller carriers struggled to make a profit in an industry that needed huge investments
in infrastructure and spectrum acquisition even as tariffs were among the lowest in the world. According
to reports after the quarter ended September 2017, even market leaders such as Bharti Airtel and Idea
Cellular have seen a reduction of as much as 35% in operating profit and around a 10-percentage-points
contraction in operating margins as they looked to match the cost of Jio’s services, initially free and,
later, in the form of dirt-cheap pricing. Infact, Idea Cellular posed loses for three straight quarters.
However, Bharti matched the dirt-cheap offers of Jio, and expanded its 4G coverage and spectrum
footprint, while increasing its revenue market share to 34%—an all-time high. The two smart deals with
Telenor and Tata meant for its revenue market share to stand at over 40%, slightly lower than the 42%
predicted from the impending merger of Vodafone-Idea, while being neck-to-neck with Jio in terms of
footprint of spectrum.

In the 13 months since it began operations, it reported its earnings for the first time on October 13, and
reported that it had generated revenue of INR 6,150 crore, of which 20% was from the June quarter of
this 2016-17 fiscal. It added 15 million subscribers, taking the total subscriber base to 138.6 million and
about 12% subscriber market share. Its average revenue per user stood at INR 156. Reliance Jio led the
mobile segment in terms of new customer addition with net addition of 73.44 lakh subscribers. It was
followed by Bharti Airtel which added 31.4 lakh new customers, Vodafone 8.79 lakh, Idea 7.13 lakh and
BSNL 6.02 lakh customers.

After the completion of 1 year of operations in India, it was clear that Airtel and other incumbents did
not step up their game while they had time. The delayed entry of Reliance Jio offered them the time to
step up their game. Reliance Jio had made its intentions of taking the industry by storm quite clearly,
first by acquiring the broadband network to roll out 4G services and then by buying a pan-India
spectrum. In 2002, Reliance Communication’s entry led to the slashing of incoming calls from INR
8/minute to less than INR 1, with incoming calls and value added services thrown in for free. The
difference between the two times is that back then, Airtel was a small player; however, at the time of the
entry of Reliance Jio, Airtel had become the market leader with 30 per cent share. Reliance Jio just tried
to fill in the gaps left by incumbents. They offered free voice as part of a package where the customer
was already paying for data services. They focused more on data, which ultimately appears to be the
latent appetite for the country. The entry of Reliance Jio had led to sharp rises in consumption of data.
However, bearing in mind that Reliance Jio’s major market share owed majorly to the freebies offered,
backed by massive investments, and profits were not certain, it did lead to an obvious observation. The
shots in the market were now being called by Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio and Airtel along with
other dominant players were just following suit.

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 Change in Tariff Plans
Reliance Jio initially began its operations by providing free data, calls and messages to its subscribers
with additional benefits such as access to its bouquet of applications, all free of cost. In around 7 months
of its operations, it started charging its customers for plans starting at as low as INR 309 per month for
its Prime Members, this included all the services initially provided by Jio free of cost. Calls, data and
applications were all included in this plan. All of this was in accordance to the promise made by Mukesh
Ambani to keep calls, to Jio as well as other operators, always free for users on the Jio network.
In 2018, Jio’s recharge plans were as follows-

Source: Jio’s website

In October 2019, Jio however started charging its customers for calls to recover the INR 6 paise per
minute IUC (Interconnect usage charge) charge that it had to pay to other telecom operators to use their
network during the calls made by Jio users. Thus, under the new regulations, a Jio subscriber calling
another mobile operator subscriber would be charged INR 6 paise per minute which would be made
through IUCtop-up vouchers. However, to compensate for the additional cost levied on the subscribers,
Jio decided to provide data to the subscribers. Plans started from INR 10 for 124 IUC Minutes to non-Jio
users and 1GB additional data upto INR 100 for 1362 ICU Minutes to non-Jio users and 10GB
additional data. Jio later announced plans at INR 222, INR 333 and INR 444 to offer ICU minutes for
making calls to other networks claiming that its plans were 20 to 50 per cent cheaper than the existing
plans of its competitors.
According to Jio, it had been hit by the price differential of free voice on Jio network and higher tariff
prices on other networks. This is why Jio had high outgoing traffic and other operators had a high
incoming traffic. Thus, due to the IUC charges, Jio was currently the net payer of IUC while Airtel,
Vodafone-Idea became net revenue gainers. According to an Economic Times report, Jio had paid

32
nearly INR 13,500 crore as net IUC charges to other operators since it began operations 3 years ago.
Hence, Jio decided to charge the additional IUC charges until TRAI scraps the charges completely.
TRAI has however delayed the scrapping of IUC charges by a year from January 1, 2020 to January 1,
2021.
Airtel, Vodafone and other incumbents viewed this development as a positive step to protect its
subscriber base, revenue and profits as they had been bleeding because of the ultra-low tariffs provided
by Reliance Jio. Jio decided to shift the burden to the users after bearing it for a period of over 3 years.
In December 2019, stating that the AGR order of the Supreme Court has caused acute financial stress,
Vodafone increased its plans whereas according to Airtel, the move was intended to keep the company
and industry viable.
Vodafone announced the following plans beginning December 2019-

Source: Livemint
The yearly pack of INR 1499 cost customer INR 999 with a data limit of 24 GB instead of the 12 GB
offered previously. The 2GB data scheme which cost customer INR 229 earlier was changed to INR 299
for the same services provided. The 84 days validity package, which cost INR 458 for 1.5 GB data per
day and 100 SMS, now with the new recharge will cost ₹599 for the same services. There is also a ₹399
scheme that will provide 3 GB data and 100 SMS services for 28 days. Therefore, Vodafone introduced
new plans, revised existing plans as well as scrapped some plans. The highest increase was in the
yearly pack at 41.2 per cent.

33
Airtel also increased its tariffs substantially from INR 50 paise per day to INR 2.85 per day. The
prepaid plan for INR 129, offering 300 SMS, 2GB data for 28 days was revised to INR 148. The INR
249 plan to been revised to INR 298, the INR 998 plan was hiked to INR 1498 and the INR 1699 plan to
INR 2398.
The changes in Airtel’s plans can be summarized in the table below:

Souce: NDTV Gadget

The next telecom operator in line to raise the tariffs was Reliance Jio. The telecom raised its tariff
prices by 40 per cent, however, it claimed to offer 300 per cent more benefits to its customers while
launching the All-in-One plans.

Jio’s plans as on June 27, 2020. Source: Jio’s website.

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Jio’s most common plans prior to the price rise cost INR 149 and INR 399, offering 1.5 GB per day data
for 24 days and 84 days respectively. Under the new plans, the INR 149 plan would be available for 28
days at INR 199. However, this was still cheaper by 25 per cent than those being offered by it’s rivals at
around INR 249 per month. The INR 399 plan saw a jump of INR 555, to get the same benefits for a
period of 84 days. The yearly pack costs the users INR 2121 for 1.5 GB per day data for 365 days.
Thus, it is clearly evident, that even at present; the cost of annual tariff plans for Jio users is the least at
INR 2121 for 1.5 GB data pep day as compared to INR 2398 plan by Airtel and INR 2399 plan by
Vodafone Idea for 365 days. However, the plans of Airtel and Vodafone come with unlimited calling
to all networks whereas Jio’s offer comes with FUP of 12000 minutes.
The 40 per cent tariff hike boosted Reliance Jio’s profits by 73 per cent in a period of only 3 months.
Users were paying more and consuming more data.

35
 Jio Phone-
Reliance Jio launched “India ka Smartphone- JioPhone” in
August 2017. Even though India’s smartphone base was
growing, the entry level segment was largely ignored.
Mukesh Ambani’s goal was to reduce the price of entry
level smartphones as much as possible, which at the time
costed between INR 3000 to INR 4500. He called JioPhone
a revolutionary device that would reinvent the conventional
feature phone that will be Made by India, Made for India
and Made in India. It aimed to bring digital freedom for all
Indians. It was a 4G LTE phone, supporting all 24 Indian
languages.
The JioPhone would be be available to the user for 36
months at a net effective price of INR 0. The user was
required to deposit a fee of INR 1500 which was refundable
on return of the used phone after 36 months. Reliance’s
disruptive device would go on to alter the very landscape of
India’s lower-end handset market.

The JioPhonewas equipped with the following features-1) Alpha numeric keypad, 2) 2.4 inch QVGA
display, 3) FM radio, 4) Torch light, 5) Headphone jack, 6) SD card slot, 7) Battery with charger, 8)
Four way navigation system, 9) Phone contact book, 10) Call history facility, 11) Jio apps like
JioCinema, Jio Music etc., 12) Microphone, speaker and camera, 13) Inbuilt Ringtones, 14) Near Field
Communication (NFC) support that in the future would allow users to store their credit/debit card details
to make payments, something like Samsung Pay.
Jio phone Cable TV was launched along with the JioPhone that connects it with any TV, not just a smart
TV, so that all JioPhone users can enjoy viewing on the big screen of their existing television sets.
Even before its first sale, JioPhone reported six million pre-orders. By the end of 2017, it crossed
incumbents like Samsung, Micromax, and Nokia to become the leader of India’s feature phone market.
A year later, in August 2018, Jio announced the launch of JioPhone 2 while JioPhone 1 had managed to
reach a 100 million user base in around a year’s time. The phone was priced at INR 2999 and was made
available through flash sales via Jio’s website. The JioPhone 2 screen supports landscape mode, which is
preferred for watching videos. Along with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, the JioPhone 2 came with a 2-
megapixel rear camera and VGA front-facing camera. Connectivity options include dual-SIM, LTE,
VoLTE, and VoWi-Fi. Reliance JioPhone 2 also supports FM, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, and NFC and is
powered by a 2,000mAh battery. There are minor specifications upgrade and supports popular
applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube along with a QWERTY keypad instead of the T9.
JioPhone 3 is set to launch some time in 2020. As per reports, JioPhone has successfully transitioned
approximately 100 million erstwhile 2G feature phone users to the 4G network since its launch.

36
Jio constantly has added new users to its subscriber base by selling these smartphones by continuously
introducing new offers and schemes thereby gaining a substantial market share in terms of the number of
subscribers. New users of the device directly meant new subscribers for Jio. Reliance has sold over 100
million units of JioPhones, as per estimates by Counterpoint Research. It implies that nearly 26 percent
of Jio’s total subscriber bases (388 million) areJioPhone users. JioPhone was able to attract a large
segment of feature phone users who were not yet ready and willing, or were financially unable to
upgrade to a mainstream smartphone.
Jio’s strategy was to chase the bottom-of-the-pyramid consumer with bite-sized data packs, specially
tailored for the JioPhone. This was indeed a game-changer. Reliance did to telecom what HUL had done
to FMCG when it launched sachet pricing for shampoos and detergents in India back in the 1990s. Jio’s
pricing involved two-day and weekly data packs for as low as INR 24 and INR 54 respectively. This
allowed first-time 4G users to sample the offering before opting for a costlier plan of around INR 153
per month. Jio’s differential pricing made data easily accessible and more affordable to India’s lowest
common denominator. According to statistics, A JioPhone user on an average consumes 9GB of data per
month, which is more than the country average.
Soon after Jio’s disruptive entry into this segment, manufacturers like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, and
Intex that were facing near obliteration due to the dominance of Xiaomi via its sub-brand Redmi, were
roped in by incumbents like Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL to build simple, pocket friendly and 4G
enabled devices. Airtel partnered with Karbonn, Lava, Intex and Celkon; Vodafone-Idea roped in
Micromax, and state-owned BSNL tied up with Lava and Micromax for the launch of ‘India’s cheapest
smartphone’ every second day.
At a macro level, it increased India’s 4G feature phone segment, which according to projections by
Counterpoint, is estimated to be a 200-million-unit opportunity by 2023. India continues to be one of the
few markets globally where feature phones are still in a growing stage.

Jio Fiber-
Coinciding with the third anniversary of the launch of Reliance Jio's telecom operations on September 5,
2016, Reliance Jio launched JioFiber broadband services across the country. It came up with a launch
offer of a free set-top-box, zero installation charges, and a complimentary plan of 1-2 months. With
JioFiber, Jio continues to deliver on its promise of connecting the unconnected while bringing about
transformational changes to Indian homes, that it started with its mobility service three years ago. Akash
Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, at the commercial launch of Jio Fiber said the company
will be working hard to bring more such services. Currently, the average fixed-line broadband speed in
India is 25 Mbps. Even in America, which is the most developed economy, it is around 90 Mbps.
JioFiber, India’s first 100% ALL-FIBER broadband service, will start from 100 Mbps and go all the way
up to 1 Gbps. This will propel India to the top 5 broadband nations globally.

JioFiber services include:

1. Ultra-high-speed broadband (up to 1 Gbps)

2. Free domestic voice calling, conferencing, and international calling

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3. TV video calling and conferencing

4. Entertainment OTT apps

5. Gaming

6. Home Networking

7. Device Security

8. VR Experience

9. Premium Content Platform

JioFiber's monthly plans start at Rs 699 and go up to Rs 8,499. Even the lowest tariff starts at 100 Mbps
speed. One can get speeds up to 1 Gbps. Most tariff plans come with access to all the services offered.
Jio is pricing the plans at less than one-tenth the global rates, to make it accessible for all, to suit every
budget and every need. In the long-term plans, JioFiber users will have access to 3, 6, and 12-month
plans that will provide substantially higher value. Through bank tie-ups, Jio will provide attractive EMI
schemes, so customers get the benefits of annual plans by paying only monthly EMI.

In JioFiber's Welcome Offer, every JioFiber user will get unprecedented value on subscribing to
JioForever annual plans. With JioForever annual plan, users can get Jio Home Gateway, Jio 4K Set Top
Box, Television Set (in Gold plan and above), Subscription to one's favorite OTT apps, and unlimited
Voice and Data. JioFiber users can choose a Welcome Offer from various price points.

Other telecom competitors have also entered this market. Bharti Airtel announced a new STB for ₹3,999
on the Xstream platform to offer content of video streaming mobile apps, except few leading over-the-
top players, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos and Hotstar. Airtel Xstream subscribers get access
to ZEE5, Hooq, Hoi Choi, Eros Now, HungamaPlay, ShemarooMe, Ultra, and Curiosity Stream for the
first year after which customers can continue their subscription by paying an annual fee of ₹999. The
STB can also be connected with Airtel's DTH service for accessing live TV channels.It is also available
in the form of a USB stick, much like the Amazon Fire Stick or Google Chromecast. Competition has
tried to keep pace, with players such as BSNL, Airtel and Hathway slashing prices to prepare for
JioFiber’s launch. But Jio’s ecosystem approach where it bundles a ton of other features alongside the
main service could prove to be a differentiator. No one, though, will be more at risk than the direct-to-
home (DTH), according to a recent Bank of America-Merrill Lynch report, which said that these
companies were the “most vulnerable’.

Jio Mart-
JioMart is an Indian online grocery delivery service, started as a joint venture between Reliance Retail
and Jio Platforms. JioMart delivers grocery and daily essentials from nearby kirana stores. The platform
was soft-launched in December 2019. A pilot was launched in select areas of Navi Mumbai, Thane, and

38
Kalyan in April 2020. In May 2020, JioMart was launched in 200 cities and towns in India. This is
expected to take on online grocery specialists —BigBasket and Grofers, and large e-tailers with grocery
delivery plans, such as Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart. The main purpose of new commerce is to
completely transform the unorganized retail market, which accounts for 90% of India's retail industry.
Reliance Retail is now embarking on a journey to transform traditional retail through its JioMart Digital
Commerce Platform. The roadmap to this journey requires Reliance Retail to establish a complex yet
robust physical and digital pan-India infrastructure. Reliance Industries Ltd has ambitious plans for its
kirana e-commerce platform JioMart, and the company is now looking to strengthen its presence further
in the country. While JioMart has launched its operations in select cities amid coronavirus pandemic and
rise in demand for essential items, the next step for the company is to scale up operations and increase
presence in other cities.

JioMart is essentially an aggregator between customers and nearby stores, in a similar way that other
online delivery aggregators work. It also serves as a procurement and delivery channel between
manufacturers and merchants. With US-based social media platform Facebook announcing over Rs
43,000 crore investments in Reliance Jio, JioMart will also be able to leverage the company’s other in-
house offerings which include Whatsapp. Facebook-owned WhatsApp is at the core of JioMart’s
operations as the company looks to take orders through WhatsApp and make even those customers who
are not comfortable with digital channels, find it smooth to place orders with JioMart. Other procedures
such as order confirmation and details are also received on WhatsApp only. “Collaboration with
WhatsApp enables it to address a large user set spending a considerable amount of screen time on the
app. This saves JioMart from separately acquiring customers on its platform, which is a key barrier
when a new app or a service is launched,” a Credit Suisse report said in April end. The messaging
platform currently has over 400 million users which will also help in customer acquisition for Reliance.
The company has also started to onboard merchant partners. With JioMart, Facebook, and Reliance Jio
have set eyes on India’s burgeoning small traders’ population, its farmers and MSMEs. “Our focus will
be on India’s 60 million micro, small and medium businesses, 120 million farmers, 30 million small
merchants and millions of small and medium enterprises in the informal sector”, Reliance Jio said in the
statement announcing the Jio-Facebook deal. Unlike its rivals, the company also looks to equip its
partners with technology while it makes strides towards fulfilling its retail dream. RIL had earlier said
that technologies such as Point of Sale (PoS) will be made available to its trader partners.

Reliance Jio’s pursuit of 5G

Reliance Jio would play a key role in the development of the 5G ecosystem in India based on the market
dynamics, Reliance Industries said in its latest annual report. On the issue of floor price for mobile
services, the company noted that market dynamics have improved in the recent past as reflected by
December tariff hikes by operators.The government has also expressed its intentions of conducting the
next round of spectrum auctions during the fiscal year 2020-21. Jio with its 5G-ready network and
extensive fiber assets, would play a key role in the development of the 5G ecosystem in India.

39
Reliance Jio is preparing to launch fifth generation, or 5G, telecom services within six months of
spectrum allocation. The telco is aggressively deploying optic fiber which forms the backbone of a 5G
network.Fiber rollouts is a key near term focus for the telecom sector, especially for the development of
5G in the country, a Morgan Stanley report said, adding that both Jio and Bharti Airtel have indicated
deployment of significant MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) and Network Functions
Virtualization (NFV) and Software-defined Networking (SDN), to get their networks 5G ready.

Reliance Jio has sought the government's permission to undertake 5G trials in India using its own
technology and design. With this, Jio has emerged as the first Indian telecom major to seek 5G trials
based on self-designed technology.If trials are successful, this will also end Reliance Jio's dependence
on Samsung, which was earlier its sole equipment supplier for 4G technology, a Business Standard
report said. Jio had submitted an application to the government to conduct its 5G trials with Samsung
earlier.The development comes amid Reliance Jio's long-drawn plan to solidify its design and
technology base in the country. From Rancore Technologies to US-based Radisys -- Reliance Jio has
been making all-out efforts to step-up its 5G game in India.During a recent event between India Inc
captains and US President Donald Trump, Reliance Industries' Chairman MukeshAmbani was asked a
question about his 5G plans. "Are you going to do 5G too?" Trump asked Ambani to which he replied,
"We're going to do 5G. We are the only network in the world that doesn't have a single Chinese
component."

On the 5G front, the biggest roadblock for Jio, or for that matter any operator, is going to be steep
spectrum prices. The base price of the 5G spectrum (in 3,300 megahertz to 3,600 megahertz band) is
highest in India. At TRAI's recommended reserve price of Rs 492 crore per MHz, operators will have to
pay around Rs 50,000 crore for 100 MHz pan-India spectrum - that's the minimum spectrum required to
deliver 5G services (in sub-6000 MHz bands) as per global body ITU. The government has also said that
it's not planning to reduce the base price for the 5G spectrum.

Apart from Reliance Jio, three global telecom service providers, Huawei Technologies, Ericsson, and
Nokia Networks, are also vying to cash in on India's 5G plan.The government last year had asked the
telecom operators to submit their trial proposals. While Vodafone Idea and Airtel have submitted their
proposals jointly with Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, and ZTE, Reliance Jio, on the other hand, had
submitted an application with Samsung, which is the sole vendor for Jio for its 4G services.The launch
of 5G-enabled technologies is expected to be transformative in the telco and other industries by
unlocking various disruptive new technologies. Global investment in the 5G industrial chain over 2020-
2035 is likely to reach $3.5 trillion.

40
How Reliance Jio’s entry impacted the revenue stream and subscriber baseof its
incumbents to become the largest telecom operator in the country-
Reliance Jio has been gaining subscribers at record breaking speed since its launch in September 2016.

Data for the month of August 2017, Jio numbers are from July 2017; Source: COAI

In one year of its operations, Jio gained a market share of 13.46 per cent and had as many as 128 million
subscribers by the end of July 2017.

Airtel, with 281.04 million subscribers, achieved a market share of 29.63 per cent followed by Vodafone
with 208.14 million subscribers and 21.94 per cent market share. Idea Cellular, with 191.05 million
subscribers, had a market share of 20.14 per cent. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular—had
together lost close to 5 million subscribers in August 2017. This was the first time since the launch of Jio
that Airtel’s user base saw a drop.

By February 2018, Reliance Jio had gained a market share of 15.31 per cent, by adding 8.74 million
customers in that month, whereas Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular gained 4.1 million, 3.2
million and 4.4 million respectively. Bharti Airtel, however, remained India’s biggest phone company
with 295.78 million customers, while Reliance Jio’s subscriber base swelled to 177.13 million for that
month.

41
 Source: TRAI and Economic Times

This shows how Reliance Jio’s market share was continuously on the rise since the time of its entry in
the telecom market. The addition of customers had also been the maximum for Reliance Jio when
compared to its incumbents at 8.74 million in the month of February 2018.

Despite discontinuing the offering of its services free, Jio still managed to bag millions of users, and the
spree continues.

After completing almost 2 years of its operations in the country, India’s mobile subscriber base stood as
follows-

According to TRAI, in September 2018, Reliance Jio was the only telecom operator to have gained
mobile subscribers when all other incumbers showed a decline in customer base, with Vodafone Idea
suffering the biggest loss of over 8 million customers followed by Bharti Airtel at 2.3 million subscriber
loss. However, Airtel still dominated the market share at 33.75 per cent followed by Jio at 23.51 per
cent. Vodafone and Idea individually had 21.8 per cent and 20.94 per cent market share individually,

42
thereby giving them a market share of 42.74 per cent after being merged with a total subscriber base of
around 434 million.

By March 2019, Reliance had taken its user base to 307.7 million users, according to TRAI. As of
March 2019, Bharti Airtel had 27.99% subscriber market share, Vodafone Idea 33.98% and Jio had
26.40% market share. The wireless subscriber base of Vodafone Idea at the end of March 2019 was the
largest at 394.8 million, followed by Bharti Airtel with 325.1 million.

As per TRAI, in November 2019, with 32.04 per cent market share in the wireless subscriber segment,
Reliance Jio, the 38 month old telecom operator, became the largest telecom in terms of the number of
subscribers. Following suit were Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel with 29.12 per cent and 28.35 per cent
market share respectively. Jio had 369.93 million subscribers by November 2019 and replaced Vodafone
Idea to beome the country largest mobile service provider. State owned BSNL had 10.19 per cent of
market share.

Market share as of November 30, 2019.

By March 2020, Jio had reached a subscriber base 388 million.

43
However, with a market like India, where subscribers opt for multiple connections, the best way to judge
an operator’s health is by its revenue numbers. The following graphs show the income and revenue of
the various telecom operators in the country as on March 2015 to March 2020.

(Data Source: Company Annual Reports and Balance Sheets)

Reliance Jio

Total Income (in Crores)

Net reported profit (in Crores)

44
 Bharti Airtel

Total Income (in Crores)

Net reported profit (in Crores)

45
 Vodafone India

Total Income (in Crores)

Net reported profit (in Crores)

46
 Idea Cellular

Total Income (in Crores)

Net reported profit (in Crores)

47
 Vodafone Idea

Total Income (in Crores)

Net reported profit (in Crores)

48
 BSNL

Total Income (in Crores)

Net reported profit (in Crores)

Before the entry of Jio, the main course of Telecom operators’ revenue was earned through voice services.
However, Jio’s bulk of revenue is attributed to data service which also represents an important shift in the
structure of an Indian telecom operator.

49
M&A’s as a consequence of the advent of Jio
The arrival of Reliance Jio Infocomm has seen a spate of merger and acquisitions in the telecom space with
several small telecom players either going for outright sale or exiting by just selling off their spectrum once the
spectrum trading guidelines were formalized.
The M&A spree started in the following chronology:
1. Reliance Communication(RCom) and MTS in June 2016 : Reliance Communication (RCoM) set the
ball rolling in June 2016 after announcing the takeover of Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian
mobile telephony venture that operates under the MTS brand. Under the deal, Sistema Shyam
Teleservices (SSTL) held a 10% equity stake in RCom. In addition, RCom assumed the liability to pay
the government installments for SSTL’s spectrum, amounting to R392 crore per annum for the next 10
years.Then in September, 2016, RCoM and Malaysia-based Maxis Berhard-owned Aircel announced
merger talks of their wireless operations to create a combined entity with assets worth R65,000 crore.

2. Airtel Telenor merger in February 2017: Telenor (India) Communications Private Limited, formerly
known as Uninor, was an Indian mobile network operator. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary
of Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor Group. In February 2017, Telenor Group
announced merging the India business with Bharti Airtel in a no-cash deal with liability of Airtel to take
over the outstanding spectrum payments of Rs 1,650 crore post necessary regulatory approvals.
The mobile subscriber base of resultant entity reached around 334 million and Jio, which commenced
operation in September 2016, had around 177 million subscribers, according to data released by telecom
regulator TRAI for the month of February 2018.

The telecom major said all existing customers of Telenor India will now become a part of its mobile
network and will be transitioned seamlessly.

The subscribers will "continue to enjoy uninterrupted services with the Same SIM, Same Number and
same plan or pack benefits”, Airtel said.

3. Idea-Vodafone merger :It was no secret that the country’s three leading mobile operators, Bharti
Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, were under pressure due to the arrival of Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio,
which had shaken up the market by offering free voice and data to customers.
Of these, two giants- Idea and Vodafone decided to merge their business after the sector witnessed a
huge tariff war and reduction in margins with entry of new telecom operator Reliance Jio.
The DoT demanded payment of Rs 3,976 crore for one-time spectrum charge of Vodafone India, and joint bank
guarantee of Rs 3,342 crore to grantfinal approval for the merger.
The combined operations of Idea and Vodafone intended to create the country's largest telecom operator worth
over USD 23 billion (Rs 1.5 lakh crore), with 35 per cent market share and a subscriber base of around 430
million.
In a BSE filing, Idea said: "Approval of the DoT was a condition precedent to the completion of merger. The
current approval of DoT is conditional and not the final approval."

Debt-ridden firms Idea and Vodafone India merged their businesses in India to bring down cost of their
operations and to give them relief from cut-throat competition in the market where margins have hit rock
50
bottom with free voice calls.

Vodafone Idea has the capacity to provide 4G spectrum in all telecom circles of the country. According to a
presentation by Idea, the combined 4G spectrum of both the companies is capable of offering up to 450 megabit
per second broadband speed on mobile phones in 12 telecom areas in the industry.
Vodafone owns 45.1 percent stake in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla
Group holds 26 percent and Idea, 28.9 percent. The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to 9.5 per
cent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalizing the shareholding
over time.
With the new entity in the market, Bharti Airtellost the tag of India's biggest telecom service provider to the
new entity. However, Vodafone Idea lost the top position to Jio after Jio added 5.6 million subscribers in
November’19 taking its total to 369.3 million and market share to 32.04 percent in the telecom sector. Reliance
Jio has now become the biggest telecom operator in India in terms of subscribers as well as revenue market
share. Vodafone Idea remains in second for now with Airtel quickly catching up. The combined debt of both the
companies is estimated to be around Rs 1.15 lakh crore.

Other than mergers and acquisitions, smaller players have been indulging in infrastructure sharing to fight for
their slice of market share. Besides, it gives the telcom majors an opportunity to focus on their core businesses
of attracting the customers. Other requirements are outsourced to these smaller entities with different
provisions. For instance, Passive Infrastructure sharing is sharing non-electronic infrastructure at cell site,
Active Infrastructure sharing which is sharing electronic infrastructure like spectrum, antenna, transceivers, etc.
Independent companies sometimes assume responsibility for tower deployment and maintenance, entering
agreements with operators that allow them to install their BTSs on the towers. In this model, the ownership of
passive infrastructure equipment lies with the tower company. The decision to outsource tower operations to
third-party tower companies typically involves a strategic shift to focus on service innovation and improving
customer experiences. This aspect becomes critical in highly competitive telecom markets.
The process of mergers and acquisitions has gained substantial importance in today's corporate world. This
process is extensively used for restructuring the business organizations. The Indian economic reform since 1991
has opened up a whole lot of challenges both in the domestic and international spheres. The increased
competition in the global market has prompted the Indian companies to go for mergers and acquisitions as an
important strategic choice. The trends of mergers and acquisitions in India have changed over the years. The
immediate effects of the mergers and acquisitions have also been diverse across the various sectors of the Indian
economy. One obvious instance is the telecom industry where the entry of a single major player nudged a lot of
other telecom providers to merge for sustainable use of their resources. Jio disrupted the Indian telecom
provider category with its deep discount prices for data consumption. It forced competitors to lower their prices
and drove category consolidation. And to combat that, other telecom providers had to resort to M&A’s and
infrastructure sharing as a business process so as to keep their investments low and to compete for the economy
of scale.
Idea-Vodafone, Airtel-Telenor, etc. mergers happened as a direct consequence of predatory tactics of Reliance
Jio Infocomm.

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Investments made in Reliance Jio in 2020-

A snapshot of the deals and investments made with Reliance Jio in 2020. Source: News18

The details of the deals made with Jio are as follows:

1. Facebook deal- Facebook bought a 9.9% stake in Reliance Jio for $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore), on
Apri 22, 2020, in a deal that gives the social media giant a firm foothold in a fast-growing massive
market and helps the Indian oil-to-telecom conglomerate to significantly cut debt. In the Indian telecom
space, this investment valuation in Jio of Rs 4.62 crore is nearly Rs 2 lakh crore higher than the listed
telecom entity, Bharti Airtel’s, whose market-cap is Rs 2.73 lakh crore, as on April 21. The investment
values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization. The top four
companies in the market-cap are Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever,
and HDFC Bank.
Commenting on the deal, RIL said this is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology
company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the technology sector in India. The investment
values Jio Platforms amongst the top 5 listed companies in India by market capitalization, within just
three and a half years of the launch of commercial services, it said in a statement.
Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail, and Facebook's WhatsApp services have
also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retail’s new
commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on
WhatsApp, RIL said. Reliance Retail’s New Commerce platform, JioMart, is being built in partnership
with millions of small merchants and kirana shops to empower them to better serve the needs of Indian
consumers. The companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest
kiranas that can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart
using WhatsApp, said the statement.
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 The deal will help reduce RIL’s debt burden, which bulged due to the breakneck expansion of Jio and
other businesses. The Facebook deal is now the centerpiece of the ambitions of India’s biggest private
company to cut net debt to zero by March 2021.

2. Silver Lake deal- American private equity giant Silver Lake Partners bought 1.15 percent of Jio
Platforms, on May 5, 2020, for Rs 5,655.75 crore ($750 million) in a deal that takes Jio's enterprise
value to Rs 5.15 lakh crore — a 12.5 premium to the value indicated by Facebook, which bought 9.99
percent of the digital unit of RIL.
On June 5, 2020, Silver Lake and co-investors announced that they will pump another Rs 4,546.8 crore
in Jio Platforms which valued 0.93% stakes in Reliance Jio, the second investment by the private equity
giant in the Reliance Industries digital unit in a skosh over a month.

3. Vista Equity deal- Vista Equity Partners, a US-based private equity firm that runs the world’s largest
exclusively tech-focused fund, bought a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore on May
8, 2020, which underlined its status as a next-generation software and platform company. This
investment valued Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs
5.16 lakh crore. Vista’s investment, which made the largest investor in Jio Platforms behind RIL and
Facebook, was at a 12.5 percent premium over the deal with the social media network announced in
April.
The latest investment reaffirmed Jio as a strong tech-enterprise focused on one of the most exciting and
large markets in the world and emphasized the quality of management. Vista’s investment showcased
Jio as the next-generation software and platform company. It also was an endorsement of Jio’s tech
capabilities and the potential of the business model even in this COVID-19 world and beyond. The
investment proved Jio’s continuing attraction among global investors for its deep understanding of the
Indian markets, the rapid digitization opportunity post-COVID, and its capabilities to bring cutting-edge
technologies and tools such as AI, Blockchain, AR/VR and Big Data into play for all Indians.

4. General Atlantic deal- On May 18, 2020, US-based growth equity firm General Atlantic Partners picked
up a 1.34 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 6,598.38 crore. It was not only a glowing endorsement of
the management’s vision and execution capabilities but also shows the dearth of similar investment
opportunities globally. Its investment in Jio was so far the largest in Asia. These investments helped Jio
accelerate towards its vision of building a Digital Society in India. This grand vision of a digital society is
what makes Jio Platforms so attractive to investors. Jio left behind its origins as a telecom player to become
a next-generation software and platform company. It completely transformed the way millions of Indians
communicate and access entertainment. The General Atlantic-Jio deal also acted as a catalyst for the
movement to develop an Atmanirbhar Bharat that the Prime Minister spoke of while addressing the nation
on May 12.

5. KKR deal- Reliance Industries on May 22, 2020, said Private equity firm KKR will invest Rs 11,367 crore
for a 2.32% stake in Jio Platforms. This transaction value Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh
crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. This was KKR’s largest investment in Asia and will
translate into a 2.32% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.

6. Mubadala deal- On June 5, 2020, Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company announced
that it will inject Rs 9,093.6 crore in Jio Platforms in exchange for 1.85 percent stake. The deals underlined
the status of Jio Platforms as a tech powerhouse and its ability to dominate India’s booming digital
economy.

7. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority deal- Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world’s
biggest sovereign wealth funds, announced on June 8, 2020, that it will pump Rs 5,683.5 crore into Jio
53
 Platforms. The decision by ADIA, a globally-diversified investment institution, in exchange for a 1.16
percent stake, marked the largest continuous fundraising action by a company anywhere in the world. This
investment in Jio was a demonstration of ADIA’s ability to draw on deep regional and sector expertise to
invest globally in market-leading companies and alongside proven partners.

8. TPG deal- TPG, an investor in companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and Spotify, announced on June 14, 2020,
that it will invest INR 4,546.80 crore for a 0.93 percent stake in Jio Platforms, which marked a historic
ninth deal in seven weeks and took the combined fundraising in the Reliance Industries unit well past Rs 1
lakh crore.

9. L Catterton deal- L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity firm, announced on
June 14, 2020, that it will invest INR 1,894.50 crore in exchange for a 0.39 percent stake in Jio Platforms, a
record tenth investment in the Reliance Industries (RIL) digital unit in seven weeks. It came in the span of
a little less than two hours after private equity firm TPG investment. This resulted in RIL, the oil-to-retail-
to-telecom conglomerate, selling a 22.38 percent stake in Jio and collecting INR 104,326.65 crore from
some of the world’s top technology investors in the largest continuous fundraising by a company anywhere
in the world.

10. Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia- Saudi Arabia’s PIF, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth
funds, announced on June 18, 2020 that it will invest Rs 11,367 crore for 2.32 percent of Jio Platformsand
thus, joins a global group of reputed technology and private equity investors ranging from Facebook to L
Catterton. The investment by PIF, estimated to own combined assets of nearly $400 billion, in Jio Platforms
is at an equity valuation of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise valuation of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. His
Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, commented: “We are delighted to be investing in an
innovative business which is at the forefront of the transformation of the technology sector in India. We
believe that the potential of the Indian digital economy is very exciting and that Jio Platforms provides us
with an excellent opportunity to gain access to that growth. This investment will also enable us to generate
significant long-term commercial returns for the benefit of Saudi Arabia’s economy and our country’s
citizens, in line with our mandate to safeguard and grow the national wealth of the Kingdom.”
It comes close on the heels of investments by private equity giants, L Catterton and TPG.Jio, which runs
movie, news and music apps as well as the telecom enterprise JioInfocomm, has attracted the largest
continuous fundraising by a company anywhere in the world.

All the deals were concluded amid a global lockdown, a testament to India’s huge digital potential, and a strong
endorsement of Jio’s formidable strategy, tech capabilities, disruptive business model, and secular long-term
growth potential. The deals are all part of the plan to make the company net debt-free before March 31, 2021.
They are underscoring Jio's standing as an irresistible lodestar for some of the world’s biggest tech companies
and investors. A more strengthened Jio would have the capacity to play a significant role in strengthening each
of the 5 pillars – Economy, Infrastructure, Technology-driven System, Vibrant Demography, and Demand –
that would form the basis for building a more economically self-reliant India.

RIL turns net debt-free as investors flock to Jio

RIL raised more than INR 168,818 crore in just 58 days through Rs 115,693.95 crore collected from investors
in Jio and another Rs 53,124.20 crore from a rights issue. The record investments it received from some of the
world’s top financial investors that wanted to grab a piece of its digital unit Jio Platforms and a mega share sale
helped it become net debt free well ahead of its March 2021 target. The net-debt was INR 161,035 crore, as on

54
March 31, 2020. The target of making the oil-to-telecom behemoth debt-free was outlined by Chairman and
Managing Director MukeshAmbani at RIL’s 42nd Annual General Meeting on August 12, 2019.With these
investments, RIL has become net debt-free.

RIL has amassed Rs 115,693.95 crore in exchange for 24.7 percent stake in Jio through the largest uninterrupted
fundraising by a company anywhere in the world.This is apart from its stake sale to UK-based multinational oil
and gas giant BP.Along with the stake sale to BP in the petro-retail JV, the total fund-raise is in excess of
Rs 1.75 lakh crore, way higher than the company's debt as of March 2020. The deals, led by a strategic
investment of Rs 43,574 crore on April 22 by Facebook for 9.99 percent, followed one after the other in a span
of just nine weeks and during a global lockdown at that.The rights issue, which was subscribed 1.59 times, was
not only the largest ever in India, but also the largest in the world by a non-financial entity in the last ten years,
RIL said.PIF’s investment marks the end of Jio Platforms’ current phase of induction of financial partners,
according to RIL. Jio could still be open for a strategic investment from a tech powerhouse like Facebook.

Companies that Jio has invested in, so far:

1. Saavn- Reliance Jio, on March 23, 2018, bought music streaming app Saavn and integrated it with
JioMusic. Jio bought the stake for roughly Rs 720 crore to compete against the likes of Gaana, Spotify,
Amazon Music and Apple Music. The integration aimed at expanding Jio-Saavn to an extensive user base,
thereby strengthening Jio’s leadership position in the Indian streaming market. The combined entity was
valued at over $1 billion, with JioMusic’s implied valuation at $670 million. The integrated business was
developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, independent
artist marketplace, consolidated data, and one of the largest mobile advertising media. The Reliance Jio-
Saavn deal came at a time when India’s audio streaming market was on the rise.The year 2016 saw a spike
in music streaming volume with 50-60 million active monthly users on music streaming
applications.Streaming audio contributed 10% to the total mobile Internet usage in India.The investment and
combination of Jio’s music assets with Saavn further boosted the digital ecosystem and provided unlimited
digital entertainment services to consumers over a strong uninterrupted network.
2. Den, Datacom and Hathaway- Jio, on October 19, 2018, bought 66 percent stake in Den Networks with an
investment of Rs 2,290 crore and a 51.3 percent stake in Hathway Cable and Datacom with an investment of
Rs 2,940 crore.This investment helped Jio roll out it home broadband JioGigaFiber. This deal not only
allowed the company to expand its presence to 1,100 cities and target 50 million homes with its faster
broadband services, but also reduced the cost of reaching out to customers. Additionally, deals with
Hathway and Den helped Jio GigaFiber achieve last-mile connectivity, overcoming the challenges the
company had been facing from local cable operators who in past stonewalled its expansion plans.
3. Haptik- Haptik is a startup offering conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI). Jio bought 87 percent stake
in the company on April 03, 2019 for nearly Rs 700 crore.The investment aimed at helping Reliance Jio
leverage Haptik’s capabilities to build India’s largest AI assistant across chat, voice and vernacular
languages. The Haptik team continued to drive growth of the business, including the enterprise platform as
well as digital consumer assistants. This strategic investment underlined Jio’s commitment to further boost
the digital ecosystem and provide Indian users conversational AI enabled devices with multi-lingual
capabilities. It strengthened the belief that voice interactivity will be the primary mode of interaction for
Digital India.

55
 Survey Analysis
Graph 1: Age of the respondents; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

The survey received responses from 101 individuals using a mobile phone spanning over the age group of 19 to
81 years. The majority of respondents were in their twenties.

Graph 2: Occupation of the respondents; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Graph 3: Survey responses for the mobile operator used; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

According to the graph, the leader is Reliance Jio with 61 respondents using it followed by Bharti Airtel at 54
users. Vodafone has 30 users and BSNL 4. Respondents to the survey do not use any other mobile operator. The
sum total of these is higher than the number of respondents as usage of multiple service providers has become a
common practice. Even after multiple mobile operators, Reliance Jio has a clear share of 60.4 per cent.

56
 Graph 4: Respondents who use/have used Jio, when did they join the network; Source: Primary
Data/Questionnaire

39 respondents or 38.6 per cent of all the respondents stated that they do not use Jio. 15.8 per cent of the
respondents i.e. 16 of them joined Jio the year it began operations i.e. 2016. The maximum number of
respondents that joined Jio i.e. 24, according to the survey, joined Jio in 2017. These accounted for 23.8 per
cent of the respondents. In 2018 and 2019, 9.9 per cent i.e. 10 respondents and 10.9 per cent i.e. 11 respondents
joined the network respectively. 2020 saw only 1 respondent joining the network. Therefore, it is clear that Jio
added new users to its customer base even after discontinuing its free services.

Graph 5: Respondents who changed their mobile operator and switched to Jio; Source: Primary
Data/Questionnaire

Of the 101 respondents, only 18.8 per cent changed their mobile operator and switched to Reliance Jio. 32.7 per
cent of the respondents or 33 of the respondents continued using their previous operator as well as Reliance Jio.

According to the results of the survey conducted, free/cheaper data, lower call rates and reduction in
monthly mobile bills were the main drivers of motivation to join Jio for the respondents to the survey which
corresponds to our research from the secondary data as well.

57
 Graph 6: Motivation to shift to Jio; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Despite the discontinuance of free services, only 8.9 per cent of the respondents discontinued the use of services
provided by Reliance Jio. Majority of those who stuck around, stayed either because the 4G mobile data and
other services provided by Jio were cheaper or better. However, a larger chunk i.e. 24.8 per cent of the
respondents also stuck around because for them changing SIM card is too much of a trouble.

This clearly shows that despite the discontinuance of free services, Jio had established a strong foothold in the
telecom market and the subscriber base continues to grow, thereby making Jio the largest telecom operator
in the country in terms of the number of subscribers.

Graph 7: Reasons for sticking to Jio even after the discontinuance of free services; Source: Primary
Data/Questionnaire

Out of the respondents, 30 had not used Jio’s services. Of those who used Jio, 9 of them discontinued. Of the
remaining, 24.8 per cent stuck to Jio as changing sim cards is too much of a trouble for them, 39.6 per cent felt
that the services provided by Jio were cheaper than those of its competitors while 24.8 per cent felt that the
services provided by Jio were better than those provided by its competitors. The remaining 15.8 per cent felt no
issues pertaining to connectivity and therefore stuck to Jio. Therefore, by the above information it is clear that
one of Jio’s key areas of advantage are the cheaper services it has been offering continuously.

58
The next set of the survey contained questions pertaining to the usage of internet.

Graph 8: Respondents who used internet before the arrival of Jio; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Out of the 101 respondents, only 6 respondents i.e. 5.9 per cent did not use internet before the arrival of Jio. For
those who used internet, the following have been recorded-

Graph 9: How respondents used internet before Respondents who used data saving browsers
the arrival of Jio Graph 10: before the arrival of Jio
Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Graph 11: Respondents who 4G services over the Jio platform; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Of the 101 respondents, 61 used 4G services over the Jio platform while 9 did not use it. The remaining did not
use Jio.

The following graphs depict the changes in the usage of internet, particularly mobile internet by customers after
the arrival of Jio.

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 Graph 12: Effect of Jio on data consumption and internet usage; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

59.4 per cent of the respondents believe that their data consumption and internet usage has increased post the
arrival of Jio, while 39.6 per cent of the respondents were neutral. Only 1 respondent believed that their data
usage has decreased. To further demonstrate the behavioral changes in the usage of data the respondents were
asked about their monthly and daily data usage pre and post the arrival of Jio.

The consumption of data by the respondents monthly before the arrival of Jio was less when compared to their
consumption daily now. Only 27.6 per cent of the respondents reported to have used more than 4GB of data per
month before the arrival of Jio. When compared to the usage of more than 3GB data daily, 17.8 per cent of the
respondents agreed. 42.6 per cent of the respondents consumed 1-2 GB of data monthly before the arrival of Jio
whereas 46.5 per cent of the respondents use 1-2GB of data daily. This clearly shows that Jio had brought to
surface the latent appetite for data usage by offering cheap data services which was followed by its incumbents.
Thus, the winner in any case is the customer who now has access to greater amount of data per day at cheaper
prices.

Graph 13: Daily data Graph 14: Monthly data

consumption consumption
Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

One of the major reasons that are attributed to the increase in consumption of data is video streaming.
Accordingly, the survey conducted shows that 57 respondents or 56.4 per cent of the respondents believe their
streaming on OTT platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Hotstar etc. has increased since the arrival of Jio. Whereas
27.7 per cent were neutral and only 15.8 per cent respondents said that their streaming on these platforms has
not increased.
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 Graph 15: Streaming on OTT platforms; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

A video streamed at higher pixel consumes more data as compared to those streamed at a lower pixel. A
YouTube video at 480p uses around 260MB per hour whereas a 1080p video uses around 1.65GB per hour. The
survey conducted also asked the respondents about the quality in which they had been streaming videos earlier
and a comparison has been drawn with the quality in which they stream currently.

In the pre Jio era, 32.7 per centrespondents streamed videos at 480p followed by 20.8 per cent respondents
streaming at 720p. In the post Jio era, 35.6 per cent of the respondents now stream videos at 720p followed by
30.7 per cent of the respondents who stream data at 1080p. This clearly shows how cheaper data has improved
the quality in which videos are streamed by customers.

Graph 16: Quality of streaming on OTT Graph 17: Quality of streaming on OTT
platforms before the arrival of Jio platforms after the arrival of Jio
Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

The respondents were asked about the changes in the usage of calling services. 47.5 per cent of the respondents
believed their usage has increased post the launch of Jio. This can be attributed to the low tariffs available in the
market now. 55.4 per cent of the respondents used their Jio SIM card for calling, whereas 9.9 per cent did not
use their Jio SIM card and 34.7 per cent did not use Jio at all.

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 Graph 18: Respondents using Jio services for Graph 19: Increase in usage of calling
calling services post Jio
Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Reliance Jio offers a bouquet of its own apps consisting of 27 applications, ranging from JioCinema to JioMusic
to JioNews to many others. Only 17.8 per cent of the respondents were aware of all the applications supported
by Jio whereas 57.4 per cent of the respondents knew about some of them. 24. 8 per cent of the respondents
were not aware of the applications supported by Reliance Jio.

Graph 20: Awareness of applications supported 21: Respondents who switched to applications
by Jio supported by Jio from pre-existing applications
Graph
Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

Jio launched its own LYF series of smartphones with VoLTE support. In January 2016, it launched its first
series of 4G-enabled smartphones named after the four elements: Earth, Flame (Fire), Water, and Wind. In May
2016, according to Counterpoint Research, LYF became the fifth largest smartphone player and second largest
LTE phone supplier in India.

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 Graph 22: Awareness about JioLYFGraph 23: Respondents who use JioLYF

Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

39.6 per cent of the respondents were aware of JioLYF, however only 1% of the respondents used it.

Jio introduced its own feature phone in the market in 2017, the net effective price of which was INR 0. In 2017,
it also went on to become the leader in the feature phone market in India. In 2018, Jio launched its second
JioPhone. However, respondents to the survey conducted do not use JioPhones, as stated by them.

Graph 24: Respondents who use JioPhone; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

With the launch of Reliance Jio, the cost per GB has come down drastically from INR 200 per GB (before the
launch of Jio) to INR 11 per GB in 2020. Also, with the advent of Jio, roaming charges which formed a huge
part of consumers’ mobile bills earlier had been eradicated. Jio also offered unlimited calling with its recharge
plans, which was eventually followed by other incumbents.

Graph 25: Fall in monthly mobile bills post the launch of Jio; Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

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44.6 per cent of the respondents believe that their monthly mobile bills have fallen post the launch of Jio. This
can be attributed to the fall in data, voice and roaming costs.

Jio had launched its services commercially by providing them free of cost. This gave an incentive to a lot of
customers to join the network. However, over the years, Jio has become paid like other incumbents, after raging
a price war and bringing the prices down. Since all the telecom operators are now offering their services at
similar prices, the quality of services matters a lot. According to the survey conducted, 40.6 per cent of the
respondents believe there has been a reduction in the quality of services provided by Jio as against 29.7 per cent
who do not hold the same view. When compared with the quality of services provided by other networks, 38.6
per cent of the respondents were of the view that there has been a reduction in the quality of services as against
49.5 per cent who hold the opposite view. Thus, according to the findings of the survey, it can be said that the
quality of services provided by Jio has reduced significantly as compared to those provided by its incumbents

Graph 26: Quality of services provided by Jio 27: Quality of services provided by other
has reduced over the years operators has reduced over the years
Graph
Source: Primary Data/Questionnaire

To understand the quality of service provided by Reliance Jio, the respondents were asked about the problems
faced while using the services over the network.

Graph 28: Problems with the mobile and data services provided by Jio; Source: Primary
Data/Questionnaire

According to a recent study, Mobile Network Experience ReportApril 2020, by internet analysis website,
Speedtest, Reliance Jio stood as a leader in terms of 4G availability and 4G coverage experience. As per
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oursurvey, 16.8 per cent of the respondents have no issues with the services provided by Jio.The least issues
that subscribers have are with the network coverage and tariffs of Jio whereas slow 4G service is the pain area
for the majority of subscribers.

Less than 25% of the Jio users faced problems with tariff plans, although services are no longer free of cost.
This implies people are now willing to pay low tariffs for better services and though other operators are offering
same tariff plans, they are not switching back to their previous telecom operator because of the superior quality
services offered by Jio.

Graph 28: Respondents who would/have switch(ed) back to their previous telecom operator; Source:
Primary Data/Questionnaire

Due to wider network coverage, affordable tariff plans and superior calling services, 37.6 per cent of the
respondents said that they would stick to Jio as against 12.9 per cent who would switch back to their previous
subscriber.

Therefore, maximum respondents use the services provided by Jio. This can be attributed to the lower tariffs
and quality of services provided by Jio as compared to its incumbents. The mobile bills have also fallen because
of the fall in tariffs. Also, even after the discontinuance of free services provided by Jio, its subscriber base has
continued to grow as can be seen by the respondents who joined Jio 2017 onwards. The survey also shows how
the data consumption and calling habits of respondents have changed since the launch of Jio. Over the years, the
quality of services provided by both Jio and other incumbents has also reduced as revealed by the respondents.

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 Findings
The telecom market has seen a shift from high tariffs to cheap data and voice services since the entry of Jio. In
over 3 years of its existence in the Indian Telecom Sector, Jio from offering free services to becoming the
biggest telecom operator in the country, both by share and revenue. By March 2020, Jio had reached a
subscriber base of over 380 million subscribers in a market of more than 1.15 billion users. In its journey so far,
Jio has broken records from being the fastest company to cross 100 million users, surpassing telecom
companies all over the world and startups likes of Facebook, WhatsApp etc. to taking India to be the country
with the cheapest mobile data in the world. Jio also gave life to the feature phone market in India by introducing
its own feature phone- JioPhone, providing it at a net effective price of INR 0.
According to the study conducted by Kotak Institutional Equities, net telecom spends by customers have fallen
about 41 per cent since the launch of the services by Reliance Jio. Jio is the only telecom operator to have
continuously reported increasing profits over the years whereas Airtel and Vodafone Idea have reported falling
profits and even losses in some quarters.

Source: TRAI, Kotak Institutional Equities

Jio managed to unleash the latent appetite for data in the country, which before its entry was paying over INR
200 per GB of data, thereby bringing it down to around INR 11 per GB. This has been a significant
development in the sector. With the wide availability of cheap data, the way Indians stream online has also
undergone major changes, from streaming lower quality videos for a fewer hours, they have started streaming at
higher qualities for longer durations. Jio did not just offer cheap data but also introduced a bouquet of
applications to make use of that data. Applications like JioCinema, JioMusic, JioTvetc all consume high volmes
of data thereby customizing the public to high data usage. The sector also bid farewell to roaming charges with
the introduction of Jio. This comprised of a major part of the users’ mobile bills over the years.
Mobile data volumes have recorded a 4160 per cent jump because of high data usage limits with bundled tariff
plans. According to the study conducted by Kotak Institutional Equities, On a per customer basis, data usage
rose from merely 500 MB per month in 2016 to 10.6 GB last year.

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 Source: TRAI, Kotal Institutional Equites
The number of data subscribers has doubled and their share among the total subscriber base has increased to
57%, from 32% in June 2016, according to the data collected from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s
quarterly performance indicator reports. The share of customers using 3G and 4G services rose to 52% of the
total subscriber base, up from 14% three years ago.

Source: TRAI, Kotal Institutional Equites

Due to lower tariffs and unlimited voice calls available to the customers, voice usage per customer has nearly
doubled to 700 minutes per user per month, according to Kotak Institutional Equities. Also, total voice traffic
rose 110 per cent to 2.4 trillion minutes.

Source: TRAI, Kotal Institutional Equites

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A comparison between the telecom companies market value can be made as under:

Source: BSE (Data after Jio’s deal with Facebook)

The following data reveals Jio’s valuation (after the Facebook Deal) in comparison to its competitors. Airtel’s
current market cap is at ₹2.75 lakh crore, which is a little above 60 per cent of Jio’s valuation. This clearly
shows how Jio is dominating the telecom sector even by being the most valued company in terms of market
capitalization. In the recent months, Reliance Industries has secured over INR 1.15 lakh crore from global tech
investors including Facebook by selling a tad less than a quarter of its digital business and raised INR 53,124
crore by selling shares to existing investors. According to Mukesh Ambani, Jio's success in building technology
specifically for India and its ability to proliferate across the country has attracted global technology leaders –
Facebook and Microsoft — to forge partnerships with it.
Jio’s radical move was to make 4G available to millions of Indians free of cost initially in 2016, thereafter
charging nominally for data in 2017. By then, the Indian appetite for online content knew no bounds, partly due
to the availability of budget smartphones. Even though initially Jio made no money and had made huge
investments, it became profitable over the years, reporting a net profit of INR 5562 crores in the year ended
March 2020 whereas incumbents such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea have been reporting losses in the recent
quarters.
Jio has given a run to incumbents for their money and subscribers, causing some firms to exit while some others
to merge to the extent that the Indian Telecom Market at present is just dominated by 4 major players, namely,
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and BSNL, with Jio occupying the larger of the pie.
Even now, tariff plans offered by the telecom operators in the country is way below what prevailed in the
market post September 2016, thereby showing that in the price war launched by Jio, the customers are the
biggest benefiter, thereby taking forward Jio’s model of a digital India which was inspired by the Prime
Minister himself. Jio also tried to bridge the gap between rural and urban India by launching plans especially
designed for daily and weekly usage.
Even the survey conducted shows how Jio’s subscriber base grew over the years even after the free services
were withdrawn. The majority of respondents still believed that their mobile bills have reduced drastically.

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Data usage and higher calling is attributed to the lower tariff plans available in the market. According to TRAI,
average revenue per user has fallen by 41 per cent to INR 74 per month in the past three years.

Source: TRAI, Kotal Institutional Equites

Even though the tariffs provided by all major operators are now alike, users are still using Jio and are likely to
stick to it because of the cheaper tariffs offered compared to other incumbents and the wide network coverage.
Also, as stated in a report by Speedtest, Jio offers the widest network coverage in the sector thereby making it
the preferred choice. However, the pain area for Jio users has been its slow 4G services as pointed out by the
respondents to the survey.
In a bid to attract new customers and retain the existing ones, services provided will play a key role in the years
to come since the tariffs have now become identical throughout the industry. After all, in any market, customer
is the king! And so far, Reliance Jio has stuck to the 5 pillars mentioned by Mukesh Ambani initially, on which
Jio would function, namely, the best quality broadband network with the highest capacity; a world of
affordable, cutting-edge devices; compelling applications and content; superior digital service experiences; and
affordable and simple tariffs.

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 Recommendations
• In the years to come, the quality of services provided by telecom operators would play a key role in
determining the success of that company since tariffs offered by every player have become more or less
the same. Use of technology will also play a key role in the years to come. To increase profits, the costs
have to be reduced. Telecom providers should aim for net zero import for telecom equipment. A push
for indigenization would help in cutting operating costs thereby increasing net profits.
• Major telecom operator, Vodafone Idea, is reeling under heavy debt given the AGR verdict of the
Supreme Court. Thus, to save the company from drowning and the sector being reduced to only two
dominant players, resulting in a sort of duopoly, TRAI should intervene in tariff fixation to save the
companies facing existential and financial crises. Bharti Airtel is better placed than Vodafone Idea given
its strong balance sheet.
• Reliance Jio should focus on the customer care services that it has to offer. They have a huge subscriber
base, both urban and rural. Thus, to accommodate all types of the population, it must focus on quality of
customer care services to be provided. Subscribers should be made aware of the new products, services
and offers launched by Reliance Jio smoothly.
• The future is 5G as it will be extremely relevant for smart enterprise and smart city use cases. The
demand for internet and especially faster internet will be on the rise in the years to come as there will be
several applications that will require 5G in the future which would probably not work well on 4G, given
the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is powered by emerging technologies such as artificial
intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things, Edge Computing. When compared to 4G, 5G offers
much higher capacity, very high speed and better security. India has a high data consumption rate and
the second biggest smartphone market in the world. Currently, due to the limitations of the current
infrastructure, there is a significant impact on the consumer experience. Since 5G enabled phones are
already available, it has become crucial for the country’s operators to develop new infrastructure for 5G
rollout and reap its benefits as well as provide for the growing user base.

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 Annexure

Primary data was collected by means of an online survey, circulated via Google Forms. The questionnaire for
the same is attached below:

74