India&#39;s national telecom service Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is all set to cut its tariffs to compete with Mukesh Ambani&#39;s Reliance Jio, according to Indian media reports.<br />
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BSNL?src=hash">#BSNL</a> will also launch with lifetime free voice plans from 2017 onwards as part of our renewed offerings <a href="https://t.co/KDuToEMsNc">https://t.co/KDuToEMsNc</a></p>
&mdash; Anupam Shrivastava (@CMDBSNL) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMDBSNL/status/778839067085594626">September 22, 2016</a></blockquote>
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BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told the media, &quot;We are closely observing the market as well as Jio&#39;s performance. We will also come up with lifetime free-voice plans from the new year as part of fresh offerings.&quot;<br />
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&quot;We plan to be even lower than the Jio plan, and this could be by Rupees 2-4,&quot; he said.<br />
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Before the launch, Mukesh Ambani had said that&nbsp;Jio would be available for free until December 31, even as the network tests continue.<br />
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Jio&#39;s roaming charge is free for now and a base rate of Rupees 50 ($0.7468) per gigabyte of data will be charged later. For people who use more data, the price will fall even more.<br />
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However, BSNL is planning to top this by offering free voice calls, but unlike Jio it will offer this to 2G, 3G and 4G subscribers.<br />
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(WION)<br />
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BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava said that lifetime free voice plans will be offered from 2017

India's national telecom service Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is all set to cut its tariffs to compete with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, according to Indian media reports. #BSNL will also launch with lifetime free voice plans from 2017 onwards as part of our renewed offerings https://t.co/KDuToEMsNc — Anupam Shrivastava (@CMDBSNL) September 22, 2016 BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told the media, "We are closely observing the market as well as Jio's performance. We will also come up with lifetime free-voice plans from the new year as part of fresh offerings." "We plan to be even lower than the Jio plan, and this could be by Rupees 2-4," he said. Before the launch, Mukesh Ambani had said that Jio would be available for free until December 31, even as the network tests continue. Jio's roaming charge is free for now and a base rate of Rupees 50 ($0.7468) per gigabyte of data will be charged later. For people who use more data, the price will fall even more. However, BSNL is planning to top this by offering free voice calls, but unlike Jio it will offer this to 2G, 3G and 4G subscribers. (WION)

BSNL trumps Reliance Jio, offers lower tariffs

India&#39;s Reliance Communications and Aircel announced a merger of their telecom businesses on Wednesday.<br />
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The companies will each own 50 per cent of the merged carrier, the two sides said in a joint statement. The merger will create the nation&#39;s third-biggest mobile phone network operator in terms of subscribers, Reuters reported. The new entity will operate under a new brand name; the new name has not yet been announced.<br />
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&quot;The RCOM-Aircel combination will create a strong operator clearly ranked amongst India&#39;s top four telcos by customer base and revenues,&quot; the statement said.<br />
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RCOM controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani is currently the fourth-largest mobile carrier by subscribers. The deal will help cut Reliance Communication&#39;s debt by 200 billion rupees ($3 billion), or more than 40 per cent of its total debt. &nbsp;Aircel, owned by Malaysia&#39;s Maxis Communications Bhd, ranks sixth in the market and will see its debt fall by about 40 billion rupees.<br />
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The combined business will have a debt of about 280 billion rupees.<br />
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&quot;It is just another way of surviving,&quot; Jigar Shah, chief executive at Maybank Kimeng Securities India, said to Reuters. &quot;They can become better only if the two partners bring further cash into the business and they buy a reasonable amount of 4G spectrum.&quot;<br />
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With more than 190 million customers after the merger, it will overtake Idea Cellular Ltd in terms of subscription numbers.<br />
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Reliance&#39;s new 4G telecom venture by the Anil&#39;s elder sibling Mukesh Ambani has further intensified the competition. Reliance Jio offers free voice calls for life and vastly cheaper data plans compared to the leading Airtel and Vodafone networks.<br />
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The companies had started the negotiations for the deal in December last year.<br />
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($1 = 66.8061 Indian rupees)<br />
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(WION with inputs from agencies)

The new entity will become the third largest mobile carrier in the country, after Airtel and Vodafone

India's Reliance Communications and Aircel announced a merger of their telecom businesses on Wednesday. The companies will each own 50 per cent of the merged carrier, the two sides said in a joint statement. The merger will create the nation's third-biggest mobile phone network operator in terms of subscribers, Reuters reported. The new entity will operate under a new brand name; the new name has not yet been announced. "The RCOM-Aircel combination will create a strong operator clearly ranked amongst India's top four telcos by customer base and revenues," the statement said. RCOM controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani is currently the fourth-largest mobile carrier by subscribers. The deal will help cut Reliance Communication's debt by 200 billion rupees ($3 billion), or more than 40 per cent of its total debt. Aircel, owned by Malaysia's Maxis Communications Bhd, ranks sixth in the market and will see its debt fall by about 40 billion rupees. The combined business will have a debt of about 280 billion rupees. "It is just another way of surviving," Jigar Shah, chief executive at Maybank Kimeng Securities India, said to Reuters. "They can become better only if the two partners bring further cash into the business and they buy a reasonable amount of 4G spectrum." With more than 190 million customers after the merger, it will overtake Idea Cellular Ltd in terms of subscription numbers. Reliance's new 4G telecom venture by the Anil's elder sibling Mukesh Ambani has further intensified the competition. Reliance Jio offers free voice calls for life and vastly cheaper data plans compared to the leading Airtel and Vodafone networks. The companies had started the negotiations for the deal in December last year. ($1 = 66.8061 Indian rupees) (WION with inputs from agencies)

Reliance Comm, Aircel to merge businesses as India telecom consolidation gathers pace

India&#39;s richest man Mukesh Ambani today unveiled an ambitious roll-out plan, sending shares of rival Bharti Airtel plummeting about seven per cent.<br />
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Reliance Industries&#39; long-awaited 4G multi-billion-dollar telecommunications network, called Reliance Jio Infocomm,would finally launch this month, Ambani told shareholders at the company&#39;s 42nd annual general meeting.<br />
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Aimed at revolutionising mobile internet connectivity, the venture is &ldquo;dedicated to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s Digital India dream&rdquo;, he said.&nbsp;<br />
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The ambitious plan would be rolled out from September 5 following repeated delays. Under the plan, Reliance Industries Ltd will offer free domestic voice calls and rock-bottom data prices on its new Jio mobile phone network until the end of the year. &nbsp;<br />
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The Reliance Industries chairman said it would cover 90 per cent of India&#39;s 1.25 billion population by March 2017. &nbsp;The company has invested about $50 billion in the project.
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<h5>The Reliance Industries chairman said it would cover 90 per cent of India&#39;s 1.25 billion population by March 2017</h5>
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<div class="share-blockquote"><a 1.25="" 2017="" billion="" by="" class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The Reliance Industries chairman said it would cover 90 per cent of India" march="" population="" s=""><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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Jio would be available for free until December 31 as it continues network tests, Ambani said. He, however, didn&#39;t say when the company would launch commercial services.<br />
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Also set to offer free roaming to all clients across the country, Jio will eventually charge a base rate of about 50 rupees ($0.7468) per gigabyte of data, and data charges will fall even more for heavier data users. The rates are about one-fifth of prevailing data costs in the country.&nbsp;<br />
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Long anticipated in India, Jio could make Reliance the country&#39;s most comprehensive provider of telecom and internet services across the country, a key plank of Ambani&#39;s future strategy even though Jio is unlikely to contribute significantly to Reliance profit anytime soon.<br />
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<h5>Long anticipated in India, Jio could make Reliance the country&#39;s most comprehensive provider of telecom and internet services across the country</h5>
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<div class="share-blockquote"><a across="" and="" class="twitter popup" comprehensive="" country="" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Long anticipated in India, Jio could make Reliance the country" internet="" most="" of="" provider="" s="" services="" telecom="" the=""><i class="fa fa-share">&nbsp;</i></a></div>
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&quot;(Jio) is future-ready, and can easily be upgraded to support even more data as technologies advance,&quot; said Ambani.<br />
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&quot;We&#39;ll be able to provide an abundance of high-quality high-speed data and transform India from a high-priced data market to one with the lowest data rates anywhere in the world.&quot;<br />
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Some key Reliance Jio features announced today were:<br />
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Highest network capacity: 70 per cent coverage at launch
<ul>
	<li>4G internet in 18,000 Indian towns and two lakh villages</li>
	<li>Increased per person data consumption, from the current 0.15 GB to 5 GB per month</li>
	<li>The network is ready for 5G and 6G internet</li>
	<li>LYF devices: 4G-enabled smart-phones beginning from Rs 2,999</li>
	<li>Jio Fi: Wifi router for Rs 1,999</li>
	<li>Apps and content:</li>
</ul>
1) Jio TV - 300 plus live TV channels and 40 HD channels<br />
2) Jio Cinema (HD) - 6,000 movies, 60,000 music videos, one lakh episodes (Also in 10 Indian regional languages)<br />
3) Jio money: personal wallet to go cashless<br />
4) Jio music: 2.8 million songs
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	<li>From September 5 to December 31 - Free data worth Rs 15,000</li>
	<li>Customer pays only for one service (internet data)</li>
	<li>Aadhar-based service, connection functional within 15 minutes</li>
	<li>One million Wifi hotspots across India</li>
	<li>No blackout days (on extra charges on festival days)</li>
	<li>Data at Rs 50/GB (5 ps/MB). Current industry rate: Rs 250/GB</li>
	<li>No charges for voice calls, no roaming charges either</li>
	<li>Unlimited data access during nights</li>
	<li>25 per cent extra data for students with valid ID proof</li>
</ul>
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Ambani claimed a &ldquo;highest quality and lowest price data market in the world&rdquo; with these services while he urged other operators to provide better interconnectivity.<br />
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(WION)

The company has invested about $50 billion in the project that is aimed at revolutionising mobile internet connectivity

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani today unveiled an ambitious roll-out plan, sending shares of rival Bharti Airtel plummeting about seven per cent. Reliance Industries' long-awaited 4G multi-billion-dollar telecommunications network, called Reliance Jio Infocomm,would finally launch this month, Ambani told shareholders at the company's 42nd annual general meeting. Aimed at revolutionising mobile internet connectivity, the venture is “dedicated to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India dream”, he said. The ambitious plan would be rolled out from September 5 following repeated delays. Under the plan, Reliance Industries Ltd will offer free domestic voice calls and rock-bottom data prices on its new Jio mobile phone network until the end of the year. The Reliance Industries chairman said it would cover 90 per cent of India's 1.25 billion population by March 2017. The company has invested about $50 billion in the project. The Reliance Industries chairman said it would cover 90 per cent of India's 1.25 billion population by March 2017 Jio would be available for free until December 31 as it continues network tests, Ambani said. He, however, didn't say when the company would launch commercial services. Also set to offer free roaming to all clients across the country, Jio will eventually charge a base rate of about 50 rupees ($0.7468) per gigabyte of data, and data charges will fall even more for heavier data users. The rates are about one-fifth of prevailing data costs in the country. Long anticipated in India, Jio could make Reliance the country's most comprehensive provider of telecom and internet services across the country, a key plank of Ambani's future strategy even though Jio is unlikely to contribute significantly to Reliance profit anytime soon. Long anticipated in India, Jio could make Reliance the country's most comprehensive provider of telecom and internet services across the country "(Jio) is future-ready, and can easily be upgraded to support even more data as technologies advance," said Ambani. "We'll be able to provide an abundance of high-quality high-speed data and transform India from a high-priced data market to one with the lowest data rates anywhere in the world." Some key Reliance Jio features announced today were: Highest network capacity: 70 per cent coverage at launch 4G internet in 18,000 Indian towns and two lakh villages Increased per person data consumption, from the current 0.15 GB to 5 GB per month The network is ready for 5G and 6G internet LYF devices: 4G-enabled smart-phones beginning from Rs 2,999 Jio Fi: Wifi router for Rs 1,999 Apps and content: 1) Jio TV - 300 plus live TV channels and 40 HD channels 2) Jio Cinema (HD) - 6,000 movies, 60,000 music videos, one lakh episodes (Also in 10 Indian regional languages) 3) Jio money: personal wallet to go cashless 4) Jio music: 2.8 million songs From September 5 to December 31 - Free data worth Rs 15,000 Customer pays only for one service (internet data) Aadhar-based service, connection functional within 15 minutes One million Wifi hotspots across India No blackout days (on extra charges on festival days) Data at Rs 50/GB (5 ps/MB). Current industry rate: Rs 250/GB No charges for voice calls, no roaming charges either Unlimited data access during nights 25 per cent extra data for students with valid ID proof Ambani claimed a “highest quality and lowest price data market in the world” with these services while he urged other operators to provide better interconnectivity. (WION)

Reliance Jio to be world's 'lowest priced mobile internet data'

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BSNL trumps Reliance Jio, offers lower tariffs

Reliance Comm, Aircel to merge businesses as India telecom consolidation gathers pace

Reliance Jio to be world's 'lowest priced mobile internet data'