It is for the first time in India that a telecom operator has received such an overwhelming response on any of their offerings. Ironically, it was Reliance who started offering CDMA on contracts almost a decade ago. Post the commercial launch, one would be able to buy the Jio SIM just like any other SIM cards in the market. However, all new buyers will be treated with a Trial period offer which will most likely offer unlimited 4G LTE data, voice and SMS for a period of 90-days. However we are still not sure if it’ll be a commercial launch or a soft launch, as Jio is yet to resolve the interconnection issue with other telecom operators, which is affecting the voice calls. We also hear that Mukesh Ambani will be making some groundbreaking announcements at the launch tomorrow, details of which are still not known. Also, the company is expected to reveal the Jio prepaid and postpaid tariffs post the commercial launch. Needless to say, Reliance Jio has one of the best coverage as of now and it will surprise you by offering 4G LTE even in the remotest areas, something that the other Telcos including Airtel and Vodafone are yet to achieve. It is possible that we will witness a huge number of ports from other operators once Jio is commercially launched. As per COAI, Reliance has been taking advantage of the loophole in the license conditions which fail to put a cap on the number of days a free trial can be given. Now with the commercial launch finally happening, the Jio Preview Offer will possibly be renamed to Jio Trial Offer with same set of privileges like unlimited 4G data, unlimited voice calls and unlimited SMS along with the complete suite of Reliance Jio apps being offered for anyone for a period of 90-days along with the free SIM. But then, there has been HUGE demand already under partner preview offer, resulting in delayed activations and server issues. We are not sure how well prepared Jio is to open up the network for everyone to try starting September 1st. Mahit Huilgol contributed to this post.
