Reliance Jio is just getting started, and here's why

Reliance Jio is a name well known to Indians, thanks to the telco's generosity in offering free 4G data to users at multiple occasions. But if you think Jio's disruption in the telecom market is all that's in the offing, think again.

The Mukesh Ambani-owned company is exploring new areas to disrupt and bring consumer-friendly values there. So far, Reliance Jio has truly owned the telecom market with its Jio Welcome Offer, Happy New Year offer and Jio Summer Surprise till now. The telecom company also has a limited portfolio of hardware devices, which include affordable and mid-range LYF smartphones and hotspot devices.

That's not it. Rumours are rife with details about new services and products being tested by Jio, which are going to matter a lot to consumers. Let's take a look at everything that's reportedly under Jio's pipeline.

Jio GigaFiber (100Mbps broadband)

Shortly after Jio started offering its free mobile internet at 4G speeds, rumours started about a Jio broadband being tested. While the company hasn't confirmed or publicly announced Jio GigaFiber, reports of 100Mbps high-speed fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband made the headlines. The reports gained traction when GigaFiber's 1Gbps internet was being offered with 3 months free deal. Some excited users who had the chance to test the network shared screenshots of speed tests showing 700Mbps, which is quite impressive for home broadband.

So far, Jio GigaFiber has only reported to be tested in Mumbai and some parts of Delhi. It remains unclear when exactly the new FTTH service is about to be rolled out. But India's non-telecom broadband company ACT Fibernet launched its FTTH service in Hyderabad last month, so there's a good chance Jio might be rushing things to gain dominance in the niche market.

Another known rival to Jio GigaFiber is Airtel has been offering V-Fiber in select parts of India. Jio needs to act fast to replicate the success of its mobile telecom offering in India.

Jio DTH

If the telecom and broadband services aren't enough, Jio has something more for you. Rumours suggest the company might be looking into home cable and dish services as well. Since it is Jio we are talking about, we can expect some competitive plans being offered once the DTH service is officially launched.

Based on the rumours so far, which is backed by some leaked photos of Jio set top boxes, Jio might start off its DTH service with 3 months free service followed by cheap monthly rentals for hundreds of entertainment channels. As it appears, the Jio DTH will include 300+ channels at first, adding more later, and content from some streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar.

IBTimes, India, had learned from a Reliance distributer back in December that Jio plans to bundle all services, including your mobile, home broadband and DTH services, into a single bill. It partially makes sense now. 

Jio 4G feature phone

Reliance Jio certainly made 4G internet on mobile affordable, and OEMs have been making 4G smartphones cheap for consumers to take advantage of the changing trend. But not everyone wants to switch from simple, low-cost feature phones to smartphones just for 4G. Those who think so will be relieved to know that Jio has been planning to launch a sub-Rs. 2,000 feature phone for its users to enjoy high-speed internet without giving up the simplicity and affordability of a mobile phone.

Jio 4G phone, however, won't be the first. Lava recently unveiled the first feature phone with VoLTE capabilities and priced it at Rs. 3,400. If Jio can reduce the cost of its 4G feature phone below Rs. 2,000, it will be quite an achievement.

Jio 4G laptop

You have high-speed internet, a feature phone with 4G support and all you need is a laptop to do your office tasks. Jio might be listening to you. Recently, rumours of a 4G-compatible Jio laptop came to light, suggesting the notebook would look like 13.3-inch Macbook.

As exciting as it sounds, the Jio laptop with a dedicated 4G SIM card slot won't come cheap – mainly for its specs. It is rumoured to have a 13.3-inch Full HD display, a HD camera for video calls, magnesium alloy body, Intel quad-core processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC storage, 128GB SSD storage and standard connectivity options.

All these upcoming devices and services sound really cool, but Jio is not the one to confirm any of their existence. We'll keep trying for some official information, until then relish with these rumours as there is never a smoke without a fire.