Ambani launches Jio phone at 0 cost, packs in unlimited data, free voice

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, India's wealthiest man, on Friday announced the launch of Jio "intelligent" phone, which he described as a feature phone loaded with smartphone features, and offering life-long free voice calls bundled with 4G data streaming at an "effective price of zero".

Image: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani with wife Nita Ambani and children Anant Ambani, Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani. Photograph: Mitesh Bhuvad/PTI Photo.

Ambani, who had taken the telecom sector by surprise with free voice calls and data last year, announced the next leap at the company's 40th shareholder meeting on Friday.

Jio phones, he said, will be "most intelligent, affordable phone" in the world -- a 4G LTE device that supports all 24 Indian languages.

The effective cost of the fully made-in-India phone will be zero, as against the minimum Rs 3-4.5k cost for a smartphone, Ambani said.

However, to prevent misuse, a fully refundable deposit of Rs 1,500 will be charged from customers, which will be refunded after 36 months on return of the phone, he said.

The Jio phone will be available for user testing in beta mode from August 15 and for pre-booking from August 24.

Announcing “digital freedom for all feature phone users” from August 15, Ambani said the Jio phone will always have free voice calls, and promised unlimited data on the new device.

Out of 78 crore mobile phones in India, 50 crore feature phone users have been left out of the digital revolution, Ambani pointed out, and that Jio was committed to ending "digital disempowerment and unfairness" by providing affordable data and devices.

He also used the occasion to introduce his twin children, Akash and Isha, who presented the phone features that include calls and text messaging on voice command, Internet surfing and cable to connect the device to TV to view content, including videos.

"Jio phone will make the 2G feature phone obsolete," Ambani claimed, adding that the company is looking to bring 5 million phones to the market a week.

"Reliance democratised the equity culture in the past. Now, Jio will democratise the digital culture in India," he asserted. "Digital Life will no longer be the privilege of the affluent few."

Out of the 78 crore phones in India, Ambani said, 50 crore are feature phones that cannot be used for Internet or data usage. The new phone would give "affordable" device to these 50 crore users and "end the digital exclusion in India".

Reliance Jio, the fourth-generation telecom arm of Reliance Industries, will provide unlimited data on the phone for Rs 153 per month.

Jio, he said, already has 125 million users since its launch in September last year.