Recently I was invited to Reliance Jio headquarters in Mumbai.I have been following the technology scene in India for the past 12 years and I genuinely got excited when I started to hear about the plans Reliance Jio has for the India market. It is not only about the High Speed 4G network being deployed but also the fact that 4G smartphones have become so affordable unlike few years back when 4G was restricted to expensive smartphones. When Reliance announced the Jio Preview offer earlier this year in May along with the purchase of a Lyf device, I decided to buy one without any hesitation. It was a ticket to test drive the Reliance Jio 4G network for the very first time for users outside the company.
Since then , there has been a big jump in the number of users on the Jio network and also the Preview offer has been rechristened as the Jio Welcome offer. You no longer need to buy a Lyf device but you can get a free Jio sim card with pretty much any 4G phone sold in India. And for early adopters like myself, What was supposed to be a free 90 day offer for has been extended till the end of the year and I’m not complaining.
I was recently invited to tour the Jio Experience Center in Navi Mumbai and as someone who has been closely following the company and their plans , I was excited to tour the Experience Center and get some insight into Jio’s grand plans for the India market.Jio is probably one of the biggest disruptions in the Indian Telecom market and also the most ambitious network roll outs anywhere in the world. The Jio Experience center aims to showcase the company’s Jio Digital Life under one roof. Right from the acquisition of the Jio sim card to future plans such as JioFiber and SmartCar.
There are over 24 pods grouped into 11 sections in the Jio Experience center. Sadly photography is not allowed inside this center hence I shall try to explain what I saw in action.
Onboarding and SwitchToJio
The first pod walks you through how customers can get the Jio SIM card and how the process of on-boarding is done in an almost paperless process. If you had got a Jio SIM recently, you might have noticed the Scan Box which is used to scan your application form or CAF and your ID proofs. To reduce errors, QR codes are used and prevents wrong entries. The activation is done using an IVRS system for the regular process by calling 1977 from the number. Those with Aadhar can get the connection instantly activated using eKYC.
SwitchToJio
This is a very interesting and useful solution which helps users migrate data across phones when moving to Jio. This will surely reduce the pain involved in migrating data and also fear of theft of your personal data at a retailer. SwitchToJio is not limited the Lyf brand of handsets but works across the ecosystem and supports migration of content between Android devices , iOS devices and even from Android to iOS and vice versa. You are able to move your data incuding contacts, photos, videos, call logs, reminders, messages, music and calendars.
SpeedTests
While most of us including me prefer to use Speedtest.net for testing network speeds, Jio has its own Netvelocity app to test the speed of the 4G network. What is cool about Netvelocity it is even displays the 4G band being used in the enterprise version.
There is also section when you can real some real world applications such as a file download, video streaming which is what most users care about when on a mobile connection.
Jionet WiFi
If you have a Jio connection , you can get access to the Jio free WiFi hotspots known as Jionet else you can get a OTP and start using the WiFi. This WiFi is currently free but if you remember the plan details Jio released few months ago, WiFi usage will be capped based on the plan for Jio users.
High Definition Video and voice calling
As you might know, Jio uses only VOLTE for calling and this means you get HD audio by default for voice calls. What is also possible is video calling.
Check out our video for a demo of VoLTE and Video calling
Jio4GVoice (previously JioJoin)
In order to make it possible for users without a VOLTE device to make and receive calls, Jio had launchedd the Jio Join app. The app has been renamed the app as Jio4GVoice and works in a variety of scenarios.
WiFi Calling / Voice over WiFi
This is some thing which will solve our issue of call drops substantially. I have used WiFi calling on other network such as T-Mobile and Project Fi in US and it is great to receive calls even when you don’t have cellular coverage. Jio is currently testing WiFi calling and is expected to be available soon.
Jio Money and mobile payments
JioMoney is the mobile wallet being promoted by the company and is accepted across the company’s stores. Currently you can load money into your JioMoney wallet using your cards or bank account and then pay for your purchase by entering the amount at the point of sale. In the next few months we can expect to see even tap and pay option for payments in public locations such as metro stations.
JioMags, JioCinema and JioMusic
Jio is offering a collection of over 200 magazines and 5000 issues in over 10 languages for free from the JioMags app. You can also get access to 40+ newspapers through the JioNewspaper app. Jio had a nice train like setup here to showcase the reading experience.
For music lovers, you get access to over 11million songs in 20 languages available in 320Kbps quality. 1411 Kbps quality music is also coming soon.
JioTV and JioCinema
JioTV is one great live television app for both Android and iOS and gives you access to 360+ channels including 50 HD channels. JioCinema gives you access to over 6000 movies and 60000 music videos.
Education and Health
Jio is developing an education platform which will facilitate a 2-way interaction between teachers and students across India and is currently being used in government schools in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. This could help solve India’s education problems at least in the rural areas as access to education is still a luxury. The company is also developing a solution for tracking health under the JioHealthClub initiative. Ideally you can safely store and retrieve all your medical history on the cloud and also get prescription medicines and track spending for reimbursement. Your medical records can be shared with your doctor once you give permission.
SmartCar
This is one thing I’m genuinely looking forward to the current market is crowded with either expensive local services or unreliable imported solutions.For a small monthly fee you can turn any car into a smart car.
Considering this have an embedded 4G modem and a SIM card, you get wifi in your car without having to use on your phone.The great news is you don’t need to have a new car but it will work on any car introduced from 2013 and beyond. You will need to download a JioCarconnect app which is not yet released to track your car.
Jio Fiber and SmartHome
With JioFiber , Jio is planning to offer high-speed broadband up to 1 Gbps or 1000 Mbps speeds which is something unheard of in India. This will be done with FTTH or Fibre to the Home which already exists in India but limited to about 100Mbps speeds.
Jio demonstrated a Smart TV experience on a NVIDIA Shield Android TV which has been customized heavily for the Jio suite of apps. For instance even the JioTV app which you can use on your phone has a TV version and you can watch on demand television for the first time in India. Even the search feature has been customized to suit the Indian content.
There are even plans to bring powerline communication equipment to the market which will tap your electrical network at your home for transferring network packets. So instead of having to use LAN cables or expensive routers and repeaters , you can just fix pairs of powerline equipment at your home and get full speeds at every corner of your house.
Currently the first thing which comes to our mind when you hear about the Jio brand is the mobile service and the 4G SIM card and speeds associated. After visiting the centre I feel that the mobile service is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes the Digital Life vision of the company. Mobile is massive and an ambitious start considering the mobile market in India. But for the long-term , we need more than a mobile network, mobile commerce and cashless transactions, Gigabit broadband , On demand digital television, tele medicine, home automation , safety which all lead to IoT or Internet of things. The Jio 4G launch faced so many roadblocks and is finally commercially live. With the roadblocks out-of-the-way, it would be a perfect time for Reliance to launch the other suite of services in the next few months and for the first time we have a company in India with a vision for a digital lifestyle from end to end and I’m impatiently waiting as a consumer to experience it.