Reliance Jio has taken a major step forward in its slow-burning commercial 4G deployment by bundling its Lyf series of handsets with a LTE-enabled SIM card. This development marks the first time regular people get access to the telecom operator’s 4G network.
To recall, Reliance Jio opened up its LTE platform to its workers all the way back in December. It later introduced an employee referral program where one staff member could invite up to 10 family and friends to join the network. The news of the SIM cards comes only a few days after the company launched its own website.
The page allows people to register their interest in participating in Jio’s 4G network trials and goes into further details about the firm’s slate of new apps. As per the Economic Times, the SIM cards bundled with the Lyf smartphones offer users 3 months of free unlimited data. It also gives them access to 4500 minutes of voice calls.
Also See: Reliance Jio site begins taking 4G trial registrations
Shopkeepers are apparently being told to keep the sales pitch hush-hush so that there’s no sudden surge in Reliance Jio’s customer base. The 4G SIM cards supposedly hit outlets last week and are currently up for grabs in large-format retails stores in Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. That’s in addition to Tier-1 cities in states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The combination of the new Reliance Jio website and 4G SIM cards probably means the player’s commercial LTE launch isn’t that far away. Experts believe the arrival of the brand will trigger a price war among rivals Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.