RJio claims to have set world record with 16 mn users in Sep

Jio said it has achieved this milestone faster than any other telecom operator or startup in the world

Reliance Jio Infocomm, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), said on Sunday that it has created a world record by registering 16 million subscribers in September — its first month of operations.

“Jio has achieved this growth faster than any other telecom operator or start-up in the world including the likes of Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype,” it stated. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of RIL, had launched Jio services commercially on September 5. At RIL’s 42nd annual general meeting (AGM), Ambani announced free voice calls and priced data at Rs 50/GB, 80 per cent lower than the current industry average of Rs 250/GB. Along with the Jio Welcome Offer with free unlimited voice calls, messaging, video calls, high-speed data, as well as access to Jio’s suite of apps till December 31, 2016, Ambani unveiled Jio price points starting from Rs 19 to a monthly plan Rs 4,999 plan for heavy data users.

While addressing the AGM, Ambani had said that Jio would aim to acquire 100 million customers “in the shortest possible time and create a new world record”. “We are delighted and humbled by the overwhelming response across India to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio is built to empower every Indian with the power of data,” said Ambani in the statement.

“We are delighted that people have recognised this and are utilising our services to the fullest. We are customer-obsessed and committed to improving every day to exceed expectations of our customers.”

Jio, which has sparked off a tariff war, had onboarded 1.5 million users on its 4G network during the test phase.

Bharti Airtel’s subscriber base stood at 257.5 million at the end of August, while Vodafone had 200 million subscribers and Idea 177 million.

The company also said it had introduced Aadhaar-based paper-less Jio SIM activation across 3,100 cities. “This enables the customer to complete the SIM activation process in a matter of minutes, with only his/her Aadhaar number. This process will be extended across the country and fully stabilised for satisfactory on-boarding experience in the next few weeks,” Jio said.