Heena Sharma Blog

  Mobile chipset company Qualcomm on Tuesday said 5G is redefining premium experiences as it provides virtually unlimited storage and cloud processing, and is fuelling the rise of more powerful services. Speaking at Snapdragon Tech Summit Digital, Qualcomm Incorporated President Cristiano Amon said innovation in the premium tier and advanced connectivity has allowed mobile phones to replace many of people's favourite devices. "In the 4G era, broadband internet and mobile computing transformed user expectations...today's smartphone is the platform for many of the services we depend on every day...We felt the shift as image sharing and music streaming cemented the smartphone's roles in our lives," he said. Amon noted that while "premium redefines the experience, 5G is redefining premium". Read More

  Reliance Jio on Tuesday announced JioPostpaid plans in which the Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom operator is offering free subscription of the commonly used over-the-top platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar. Besides, the plans come bundled with free access to Jio apps suite. The plans start at Rs 399 and goes up to Rs 1,499. In all the tariff plans, the company is offering unlimited voice and messages and data rollover facility. Moreover, the company is offering additional postpaid connection under its family plan at Rs 250 per connection. JioPostpaid Plans: Details Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar subscription Jio apps Family plan at Rs 250 per connection Data rollover (up to 500 GB) Wi-Fi calling In-flight connectivity. Read More

Amid growing calls for 'Made in India' digital tools, Reliance Jio has launched a free video-conferencing application called JioMeet , taking on US-based Zoom platform. According to the JioMeet description on Google Play Store, the application can be used for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants with enterprise-grade host controls. Other highlights include easy sign up with either mobile number or email ID, meeting in HD audio and video quality. The application can be used for creating instant meetings to chat with friends and also to schedule a meeting in advance and share meeting details with invitees. JioMeet offers unlimited meetings per day and each meeting can go uninterrupted up to 24 hours. Read More

Reliance Jio is working on a new digital authentication and authorisation service, which would allow smartphone users to sign-in on apps and websites through a single pin. Named Jio SecureID, the service is currently available in beta testing to select Reliance group employees. The Jio SecureID is expected to be part of Jio Platforms services, which are available for everyone to use and explore. The Jio SecureID seems similar to ‘Google Sign-in’ and ‘Sign in with Apple’ services. However, it works through a dedicated app (Jio SecureID), which will be available on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store to download. The app allows users to create four-digit and six-digit pins, which can be used to sign-in on apps and portals. To generate pins, however, you need a valid mobile number and the authentication is done through Aadhaar. Read More

The Bharti Airtel stock was up 9 per cent and hit a fresh all-time high after the company reported a better than expected performance in the March quarter, led by India's wireless segment. The price hikes that came into effect in December resulted in a 14 per cent jump in average revenues per user (ARPU) on a sequential basis. The metric at Rs 154 is the highest in 12 quarters. This helped the company report a 10 per cent uptick in India business and an 8 per cent increase at the consolidated level. India accounts for three-fourths of Bharti’s consolidated revenues. With wireless subscribers almost at the same level as in Q3FY20, revenue growth for the India mobile business on a sequential basis was driven entirely by the increase in ARPUs. Most brokerages had expected a 7-10 per cent sequential growth in ARPUs. Bharti’s wireless segment operational performance was better than Reliance Jio according to analysts at IIFL. Read More

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has started testing WhatsApp to connect customers to grocery stores, days after Facebook decided to invest $5.7 billion in digital assets controlled by the company. JioMart , an e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail, "has already started interacting with customers on WhatsApp for grocery orders" in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan, Credit Suisse said in a report. "The customer initiates the interaction on WhatsApp, checks out the grocery order on JioMart webpage, gets connected with a retail store on WhatsApp and then customer picks up the order from Kirana and pays in cash," it said, adding the model is likely on delivery and completion of the transaction on one app. Read More

Facebook on Wednesday announced investment of Rs 43,574 crore to pick a 9.9 per cent stake in Reliance Industries Limited's wholly-owned subsidiary, Jio Platforms, in what is being touted as the largest foreign direct investment for minority stake in India. The company said, "Today we are announcing a $5.7 billion, or INR 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms Limited, part of Reliance Industries Limited, making Facebook its largest minority shareholder." “Reliance Industries Limited, Jio Platforms Limited and and Facebook today announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of Rs 43,574 crore by Facebook into Jio Platforms,” Reliance Industries said in its statement. Read More

Well, the website of JioMart with the tagline " India ki nayi dukaan " is a a new grocery shopping experience from Reliance Industries Limited, the country's most valued firm. This in turn is expected to take on online grocery specialists- Bigbasket and Grofers, as well as global e-commerce giants Amazon and Walmart. The JioMart app can be soon soon downloaded on apple and android platforms. Currently web services of JioMart are available in the outskirts of Mumbai, in suburbs such as Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan. And this will be scaled up nationally soon. The app will not only connect consumers, but also enable kiranas to order at wholesale rates from Reliance’s cash-and-carry stores, Reliance Market, to refill their stocks. At present, the web portal is offering pre- registration discounts of Rs 3000, claims to have 50,000 plus grocery products with free home delivery and no minimum order value, no-questions-asked return policy and an express delivery p

Following new tariff plans announced by incumbent telecom operators, Reliance Jio has updated its tariff plans, which will be applicable from December 6. “ These plans will provide up to 300 percent more benefits to Jio customers, upholding the Jio promise of providing best-quality service at the lowest price globally,” said the company in a statement. The company had already announced that while the new all-in-one plans would be 40 percent more expensive, they would seek to offer higher subscriber benefits. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea had, on Sunday, announced a tariff hike in the range of 15-40 percent, across different plans. The tariff hike by both operators came into effect on December 3. Jio follows Vodafone Idea, Airtel with tariff hikes, prices start at Rs 199 “ Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have announced a sub-25 percent tariff hike for plans of Rs 349 and below, which cover close to 60 percent of subscribers. We believe the average impact on

India's telecom majors have decided to hike their tariffs by around 40%. While the new tariffs announced by Airtel and Vodafone Idea will take effect from midnight of December 3, 2019, Reliance Jio has decided to raise its tariffs from the midnight of December 6, 2019. State-owned BSNL has also announced plans to increase tariffs, but is yet to announce the date for the same. The move comes after the recent Supreme Court judgment on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) which has left the telecom majors saddled with government dues of more than Rs 92,000 crore. Airtel and Vodafone Idea have ended their Rs 169 and 199 plans that offer 1GB and 1.5GB data per day, respectively, for 28 days. Airtel will provide access to its premium content on Airtel Xtream. Jio will be introducing All-in-One plans which will cost 40% higher, but will offer 300% more benefits to customers, the company said. Vodafone Idea and Airtel customers have time until midnight of December 3, 2019 to recharge

Strongly opposing a bailout of telecom companies at taxpayers' expense, Reliance Jio on Thursday wrote to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying firms that have been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay past statutory dues have "sufficient" financial capacity to clear their liabilities. It also slammed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for writing ex-parte to the government on the financial distress in the sector, saying the body was "blackmailing" to "extract relief from the government" after all legal recourse had expired. "We submit that the so-called affected service providers have sufficient financial capacity to pay the government dues by monetising their existing assets/investments and by issuing fresh equity in their companies," it wrote to Prasad. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm on Monday announced three new plans to address subscribers’ concerns over its decision to raise tariff by 6 paise per minute on calls to rival telecom networks. After the telco imposed an interconnection usage charge (IUC), its customers had been demanding a simple and hassle-fee package so that they did not have to buy top-ups to cover the additional tariff. The newly announced plans — Rs 222, with a validity of one month; Rs 333 with a two-month validity; and Rs 444 with three months’ validity — come with 1,000 minutes of free off-network calls. This is different from Jio’s earlier offer, where it allowed all voice calls free of charge. The new packages come bundled with the 6-paise-per-minute charge imposed on voice calls, so subscribers will not have pay anything additionally. The offer also comes with 2GB of unlimited data per day, plus free SMS and apps. Effectively, the new plans will mean that Jio customers will not have to buy R

Reliance Jio has come out with a special offer for the festive season, offering JioPhones for a special price of Rs 699. The usual price of the phone is Rs 1500. "This is a clear saving of over Rs 800 without any special conditions like having to exchange your old phone," said Reliance Jio in a statement about the the "JioPhone Diwali 2019 Offer",. The company said it will also offer data benefits valued at Rs 700 to customers who buy the JioPhone during the offer period. "For first 7 recharges that the customer does, Jio will additionally add Rs 99 worth of data," Jio said. With the Rs 800 savings on the purchase price and Rs 700 worth of free data, the company pegged the total benefits for JioPhone buyers at Rs 1500. The company said the offer is aimed to woo 350 million phone users in India who are still on the 2G network. The company will look to come closer to its 500 million subscriber target through the offer. Read More Article

Three years after elbowing into the Indian wireless phone market with free calls and data, billionaire Mukesh Ambani is back at it. This time, Asia's richest man is handing out TVs to hook users on movies and entertainment shows via internet. The tycoon is wedging into a business teeming with players from rival mobile carriers to Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc. Ambani's JioFiber broadband service , scheduled to start Thursday across India, comes with a high-definition television and set-top boxes at no charge for annual lifetime subscribers. The offer by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the tycoon's wireless powerhouse, includes subscriptions to most premium streaming services with prices starting from Rs 700 (about $10) a month. The fiber-TV salvo comes days after Jio formally swept into the No. 1 spot for wireless services after free calls and cheap data lured hundreds of millions of subscribers and left rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd struggling under

Telecom operator Reliance Jio is slated to launch optic fibre-based Jio Fibre broadband service today. At the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani announced that JioFibre customers would get free voice calls for life from landline, 100 megabit (mbps) to 1 gigabit per second broadband speed for subscription starting Rs 700 a month and a free HD TV set on commitment to an annual plan. Jio is targeting 35 million subscribers within the first year of commercially operationalising the broadband business. Officials told PTI the company would target 1,600 towns from the first day of the launch and would initially try to reach out to the rest of the country through 30,000 local cable operators who are aligned to three multi-system operators acquired by it recently. Jio Fiber plans Though the company is yet to unviel official plan details, Reliance Jio has made it clear that the plans will range fro

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Monday announced the roll-out of ' Jio Fiber ' from September 5, promising free voice calls for life from landlines, 100 mbps minimum broadband speed at subscription starting from Rs 700 a month and free HD TV set on a commitment to an annual plan. Speaking at the 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), Reliance Industries' Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said Jio will also offer unlimited international calling pack from its landlines to the US and Canada at Rs 500 a month, and that default tariff plans will be one-fifth to one-tenth of existing market tariffs. "...voice calls from home to any Indian operator - mobile or fixed - will be absolutely free forever. On fixed-line international voice calling, we are today ending the era of high international calling rates on landline by announcing the lowest fixed line rates for international calling...," he said. Jio Fiber services would be available on a commercial basi

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi on March 19 launched its first Android Oreo Go edition-based Redmi Go smartphone. Priced at Rs 4,499, the entry-level budget smartphone will go on sale from March 22 through Flipkart, Mi stores and Mi online store. Aimed at first time smartphone users, the phone comes bundled with a cashback offer worth Rs 2,200 from Reliance Jio. Along with the Redmi Go, the company introduced its Unified Payment Interface-based digital payment app, Mi Pay . Xiaomi Redmi Go features and specification The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage -- expandable up to 128GB through microSD card. The phone boots Android Oreo Go, an operating system designed for entry-level smartphones with limited hardware resources. The OS comes preloaded with Google Android Go app suite, which includes a YouTube, Chrome, Google, Google Assistant, Files, Google Maps, and Gmail. It also supports lite apps fro

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held Reliance Communication chairman Anil Ambani and two directors guilty of contempt of court on three contempt applications filed by Telecom equipment maker Ericsson against him over not clearing dues of Rs 550 crore. The apex court has asked RCom to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson within four weeks, failing which, Anil Ambani, Reliance Telecom chairman Satish Seth and Reliance Infratel chairperson Chhaya Virani would face a three-month jail term. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore each on them, which has to be deposited within a month. If they fail to furnish the amount, the three will be awarded a month's jail-term. A bench comprising of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran said if the contemnor failed to make the payments within the specified period, they will undergo a jail term of three months. It directed that Rs 118 crore already deposited by Reliance Group in the apex court's registry be disbursed to Ericsson. &quo

Vodafone Idea Ltd . plans to raise as much as 25,000-crore rupees ($3.5 billion) via a rights offering to help India’s largest mobile-phone carrier fend off Asia’s richest man, who continues to roil the industry by providing 4G Internet at prices that would drive most carriers bankrupt in other countries. Vodafone Group Plc will contribute as much as 11,000 crore rupees, while India’s Aditya Birla Group will pump in as much as 7250 crore rupees, according to a statement on Wednesday. The plan underscores how Indian carriers have yet to figure out how to compete against billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd ., which offers packages with enough data to watch 46 hours of YouTube videos for about $2 a month. Vodafone Idea itself was formed last year after a couple of the industry’s biggest players merged to create an operator big enough to withstand Jio’s low prices. Separately, Vodafone Idea is also planning to sell its 11.5 per cent stake in Indus Towers Lt

It's that time of the year when companies across sectors will line up to provide customers n number of offers and deals. Well, one such offer is here for you to make the most of it. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has come up with a 100 per cent cashback Diwali offer on prepaid recharges. With prepaid recharges available across different slabs, a customer making a recharge of Rs 149 or above through a retailer, Jio website, app, or any of Jio's partner websites will be eligible for a 100 per cent cashback. The cashback will be given in ' Reliance digital coupons ' and customers who are active RJio users and are enrolled in the 'Jio Prime' membership will be eligible for it. The Offer is open to all eligible subscribers on and from October 18, 2018, to November 30, 2018. The coupons available will be valid till December 31, 2018. Read Complete Article Business standard