Indian billionaire Ambani's Reliance Jio renews rural push with launch of Dh44 4G phone

Reliance Jio said on Monday it would launch a 4G feature phone priced at Rs999 (Dh44.78/$12), the latest attempt by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom arm to grab market share in India's massive and under-penetrated hinterlands.

Jio, which famously disrupted the Indian telecom sector in the last decade by introducing cut-price tariffs, will roll out entry-level phones equipped with internet services like digital payment in its push to reach those who have not yet migrated to smartphones.

"There are still 250 million mobile phone users in India who remain 'trapped' in the 2G era, ... at a time when the world stands at the cusp of a 5G revolution," Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, said in a statement.

The move could also help Jio cement its leadership in telecom user base which has already crossed 439 million, far ahead of rivals Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

Following the tariff disruption in 2016, Jio had in 2021 launched the 4G JioPhone smartphone at 6,499 rupees, which after an initial sales surge is finding limited takers even after a price cut, a market study by IIFL Securities showed in May.

Currently, 4G feature phones account for less than 1% of the feature phone sales in India, per Counterpoint Research.

"Feature phone to smartphone transition has slowed down due to high learning curve for a lot of rural Indian users and Jio Bharat aims to bridge that gap," said Tarun Pathak, analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Feature phones are models that have higher functionalities than basic devices but falls short of the capabilities of a smartphone.

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