Jio to have 125 mn potential 4G smartphone users by Dec 31: Report

As Reliance Jio reaches the commercial launch of its disruptive 4G Jio services on December 31 this year, it will have more than 125 million potential 4G subscribers available by that time, market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR) predicted on Thursday.

This is the cumulative number of 4G smartphones CMR expects to be available in the market by the end of 2016.

Reliance Jio is giving a four-month introductory offer for everyone of free voice and data services beginning September 5.

"This is a significant development for the Indian telecom ecosystem. There could have been no better day than the Teacher's Day to unleash the new era of communication for the Indian users, leading to the digital literacy and education in the country," said Thomas George, Senior Vice President and Head, CMR.

CMR also expects Reliance Jio to become the largest Over-The-Top (OTT) player of the country and also make inroads in the elite league of largest app users of an Indian app developer.

RJio will be there along with Hike and Flipkart which have users in the range of 100 million each as per industry estimates.

"Use case and affordability is an internal factor and have already been addressed by Jio through My Jio bouquet of services and the disruptive pricing, among the lowest world over," added Faisal Kawoosa, Principal Analyst Telecoms, CMR.

CMR also expected Jio to play a critical role in bridging the digital divide prevalent in the country.

The report also said the cumulative shipment number for Tablet PC/4G dongles/Mi-Fi devices will reach 2.5 million by the year end.

"The estimates are based on the actual numbers reported till June 2016 and projections up to December 2016, thereafter," the report added.

--IANS

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