Jio effect: DTH stocks fall up to 6% on announcement of 4G enabled phone

Voice calling will be free for life while unlimited data packs will cost Rs 153 a month on device

Shares of broadcasting and cable TV companies on Friday slumped up to 6 per cent after Mukesh Ambani announced the launch of a 4G-enabled feature phone which would also have a cable to connect with TV as a special accessory to display the phone content on a bigger screen.

The scrip of Dish TV India plunged 5.85 per cent, Sun TV Network went down by 2.65 per cent, Hathway Cable & Datacom fell 2.58 per cent, GTPL Hathway (2.28 per cent) and Den Networks (0.13 per cent) on BSE.

"In addition to this, the announcements towards the JIO Phone - TV would also hurt the cable TV industry," said Nitasha Shankar, Sr Vice President and Head of Research, YES Securities.

Mukesh Ambani on Friday announced the launch of a 4G-enabled feature phone priced at "effective" zero that bundles life- long free voice calls with dirt cheap data in a bid to woo 50 crore low-income users to his 10-month old Jio.

Addressing the annual meeting of shareholders of RIL, the parent of Jio, Chairman Ambani said the handset, named JioPhone, will have "an effective price of Rs 0" as buyers will be able to get the device for a one-time refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500.

The deposit will be refunded after 36 months on return of the phone.

Voice calling will be free for life while unlimited data packs will cost Rs 153 a month on the device, he added.