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Source：Pursuit Information Network Editor：Science Time：2025-06-25 22:40:03

The USAfree data charm of India’s Reliance Jio, which helped the new telecom operator win over 72 million subscribers in four months, will end in little over two months. But the company may have plans to keep its data tariffs as good as free to retain users.

SEE ALSO: Inside Reliance Jio's audacious plan to disrupt India's internet landscape

Reliance Jio plans to offer data at Rs 100 ($1.5) once its current New Year offer ends on March 31, according to the Economic Times. It’s unclear at this time how much data Jio plans to offer for Rs 100, or the duration of this data plan.

Mashable Indiaunderstands that Reliance Jio is considering several data plans, some of which that cost as low as Rs 50 (less than $1), and hasn’t formalized a concrete plan just yet.

Part of India’s largest industrial house RIL owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, Jio launched its 4G only network in the country in September. For the first three months, the company offered 4GB of 4G data every day to all its subscribers at no charge. In December, the company extended the free plan but reduced the free data quote to 1GB per day, which too is very generous. All voice calls and text messages are free on the network.

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Jio has been called out for its free services by rivals, who have complained its practices to be predatory. When rivals pointed out a law that only let carriers run promotional offers for not more than 90 days, Jio just changed the name of its plan from "Welcome Plan" to "Happy New Year Offer" and changed the quantum of free data.

The move to charge a nominal fee could be simply a ploy to ward off rivals and steer clear of the country's laws.

Analysts believe that the company will not be able to retain many of its subscribers when its free data offerings ends. Jio's network has been plagued by connectivity issues with users unable to call numbers on other networks. The company has alleged its rivals of thwarting calls from its networks. So far, many believe, users are sticking with Jio because they don't have to pay anything for free data and are using the Jio number as a secondary connection.

Even at Rs 100 for a month (assuming it is for 1GB of data per day), Reliance Jio will be able to aggressively compete with the incumbent players such as Airtel and Vodafone, two of India's top telecom operators with over 400 million subscribers between them.

Reliance Jio is also planning to launch low-cost feature phones to lure customers who can't afford a smartphone just yet. Compared to India's 260 million smartphone users, there are about 460 million feature phone users in the country. An image of what appears to be one of the forthcoming phones surfaced on the web this week.

@Gadgets360 jio feature phone, Rs 1500 pic.twitter.com/DsAHgHWhkF
— Rajath Kumar K R (@rajathkumarkr) 18 January 2017

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