Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator, is expected to roll out 5G very aggressively due to multiple factors (we won’t go into that more today). This could also mean that Jio will once again launch a new highly affordable 5G smartphone or 5G feature phone for the Indian market. It should most likely be a smartphone because after the launch of JioPhone Next, it is clear that Jio understands that the era of feature phones is disappearing and smartphones will be the most demanded. To prepare a market ready to consume it 5G services, Jio could launch an affordable 5G smartphone with prepaid packages specially tailored for 5G network services. What these plans would look like is completely unknown and the telco has not given any hint about it.
JioPhone Next with support for 5G connectivity may be coming soon
JioPhone 1 came back in August 2017, which was less than a year ago when Jio launched 4G network services in India. If the telco follows the same trend, it could launch a 5G smartphone (affordable in nature) quite soon after the launch of the 5G network. One thing that’s already a bonus for the telcos this time around is that millions of Indians already own one 5G smartphones.
These cheap 5G smartphones would actually help Jio penetrate deeper into the market. Most 5G smartphones today are sold in the mid-range and premium range. Jio could actually just launch the 5G version of the JioPhone Next. It would be somewhat disappointing as the performance of JioPhone Next was quite disappointing and the cost was also more than the market expected.
But bundling 5G services with a Jio SIM-locked smartphone could propel Jio very easily towards increasing subscriber market share in the 5G era. Most Indian consumers still don’t know what to expect from 5G services, so it will be interesting to see how many would upgrade really soon. It would also be interesting to see how Bharti Airtel would counter this situation as the telco has already said it will launch its own smartphones, instead it would partner with several smartphone vendors to provide subsidies to consumers for upgrading their smartphones. devices.
