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The Jio effect

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Reliance Jio chairman Mukhesh Ambani announces the extension of its free 4G services till March 31 under the Happy New Year Plan in Mumbai in December

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With its subscriber base crossing 100 million and their data usage close to that of the US, plus a fresh offer of sharply discounted prices, Mukesh Ambani’s network has disrupted the Indian telecom market. The industry needs to recalibrate and now

By Sujit Bhar

Mukesh Ambani’s Jio is a disruptive network in the Indian Telecom firmament. On February 21, the Reliance Industry chairman, who also heads Jio, revealed three very important figures. First, the network’s subscriber base has now crossed 100 million, a milestone reached in a record time. Secondly, over 100 crore gigabytes of data has already been consumed by its subscribers.

The third was another huge marketing gimmick, regarding Jio prime. Said Ambani: “All customers who subscribed to our service on or before March 31 can enroll in the Jio prime membership for a one-time fee of Rs 99. Prime members will be eligible for all the unlimited benefits availed during the introductory offer for another 12 months till March 31, 2018, by paying a fee of Rs 303 per month.”

The announcement was a big step towards consolidating an even larger subscriber base within a given time-frame. This could change the cost-analysis of all existing telecom network providers and promises to provide connectivity that might be in the region of some developed nations.

The problem, of course, is of assured connectivity, with telecom towers being in short supply for the new network of the largest private corporation in the country. That is something that will need solving. There is another problem brewing, in the quick amalgamation of different networks, gearing up to fight the mega-offensive from Reliance.

Not that Ambani is not aware of all this. Said he: “We will monitor all plans announced by other operators across the country. We will match all these and will provide 25 per cent more data than anyone else. Our solemn promise is to offer better plans at best price.”

The existing scenario

What was the existing scenario in which such a disruptive situation emerged?

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), till January 2017, India “was the world’s second-largest telecommunications market… The deregulation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms has made the sector one of the fastest growing and a top five employment opportunity generator in the country. The Indian telecom sector is expected to generate four million direct and indirect jobs over the next five years according to estimates by Randstad India”.

The bigger news was about market projections. Says TRAI: “Driven by strong adoption of data consumption on handheld devices, the total mobile services market revenue in India is expected to touch US$ 37 billion in 2017, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.2 per cent between 2014 and 2017, according to research firm IDC.”

The forecasts match the Jio offerings. It says: “India is expected to have over 180 million smartphones by 2019, contributing around 13.5 per cent to the global smartphone market.”

That isn’t all. “According to a report by leading research firm Market Research Store, the Indian telecommunication services market will likely grow by 10.3 per cent year-on-year to reach US$ 103.9 billion by 2020,” says the TRAI report.

Accepting the huge market potential, what was the telecom companies’ market share till end of last calendar year?

The following graph (courtesy TRAI), makes it clear.

Pie chart on market share

Pie chart on market share

Idea (16.9 %) has now tied up with Vodafone (18.16 %) to form a block (total 35.06 %), while Reliance Infocomm (7.68 %) has tied up with Tata Telecomm (4.7 %) to garner a 12.38 % market. The largest so far is Bharti Airtel at 23.58 percent of market share. Jio has butted into that, starting at just 6.4 percent.

Future market

The overall subscription data (TRAI) makes things clearer.

Subscription data table

Subscription data table

Jio isn’t just a disruptive force; it has the potential to push open the overall market and force-expand it breadth-wise, incorporating the friendly Narendra  Modi government’s digitization drive.

Tomorrow will be another day, not quite like yesterday and certainly way beyond today. This is the accepted leapfrogging method that India has been adopting for a long time in this field, and reaping benefits.

We must remember Mukesh Ambani’s recent comment about H1B restrictions in the US. He had said that this could be blessing in disguise for Indian IT companies, because they would then have time to look back into the domestic market where opportunities abound.

Hugely disruptive moves such as Jio’s are timely interventions. The industry needs to recalibrate.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Google restores delisted Indian apps after government intervention

Google on Saturday restored all Indian apps it had removed.

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Google has started to restore all the delisted Indian mobile apps on Play Store agian, which they had removed due to a disagreement over service fees. After a discussion between company representatives and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the decision was made, according to sources.

The step was taken in response to Vaishnaw’s strong statement in which he said that it is not allowed for apps to be removed from the Google Play Store. The minister had said, India is very clear, our policy is very clear…our startups will get the protection that they need.

Vaishnaw  continued saying that he has already given Google a call. They will be speaking with the app developers who were delisted this week. This is not acceptable. The minister said this kind of delisting cannot be permitted.

Ten Indian companies’ apps were banned by Google on Friday, causing outrage in one of its fastest-growing markets. With 94% of phones running on its Android platform, Google holds a large portion of the Indian market. Popular names like Naukri and Bharatmatrimony were on the list.

The main point of contention is Google’s in-app purchase fees, which range from 11% to 26%. Indian startups have long opposed the US tech giant’s actions, believing them to be unfair.

The founder of Bharat Matrimony, Christian Matrimony, Muslim Matrimony, and Jodii, Matrimony.com, expressed shock at the matchmaking apps’ removal from the Google Play Store.

Shaadi. Com CEO Anupam Mittal described it as a dark day for India’s internet, highlighting the possible broad effects on matchmaking services. He also called Google an evil.

While, Kuku FM Co-founder Vinod Kumar Meena in a statement had said that Google was behaving like a monopoly.

Meanwhile, Google temporarily withdrew the famous Indian payments app Paytm from the Play Store in 2020, claiming a few policy infractions. Due to this decision, the founder of the company as well as the larger startup community came together to build their own app stores and file lawsuits against Google.

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Anant Ambani says he is 100% lucky to get Radhika Merchant in his life

Anant Ambani said he was grateful to get Radhika as his life partner. He said he is 100% lucky to get Radhika Merchant in his life. He said every day he is falling more and more in love with her. He added although he had known Radhika for the last 7 years, it felt he had met her only yesterday. He thanked Radhika for everything.

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Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s grand three-day wedding celebrations began with a glamorous cocktail night on Friday in Jamnagar. During the celebrations, Anant Ambani also gave a speech wherein he thanked his late grandfather Dhirubhai Ambani and grandmother Kokilaben Ambani for inspiring him. Anant Ambani said he was grateful to get Radhika as his life partner. He said he is 100% lucky to get Radhika Merchant in his life. He said every day he is falling more and more in love with her.

He expressed his gratitude to his mother for pulling together the lavish three-day wedding celebrations in Jamnagar. Anant thanked his mother for all she had done. He said all the arrangements had been done by his mother and nobody else. He added his mother had gone all out and she had worked 18-19 hours a day and he was extremely grateful to her.

He also thanked all the guests who were present there at the pre-wedding celebrations. He said everyone had made it to Jamnagar to make him and Radhika feel special. He said both of them were honored and humbled to have all of them present there. Anant said he was sorry if they had caused an inconvenience to anyone. He asked for forgiveness. He hoped everyone is going to enjoy the coming three days. He also thanked his mother, father, sister, brother, his sister-law and his brother in-law for making this event memorable.

Anant said everyone has been sleeping for less than 3 hours a day for the last 2-3 months and he was very happy to share this joy with everyone. The youngest Ambani talked about his personal struggles and how his parents had always supported him. He further added his life had not been entirely a bed of roses. He said he had also experienced the pain of thorns. He said he had faced many health crises.

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Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg shares pictures from 2nd day of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant pre-wedding celebrations

Zuckerberg shared pictures from the 2nd day of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding celebrations. In the photograph Mark Zuckerberg can be seen along with his wife Priscilla Chan. The couple is exuding happiness as they prepare for the event. He captioned the picture it is getting wild out here.

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Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan joined the star- studded pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar on Friday. The event was attended by many prominent figures from different fields. Zuckerberg took to his Instagram handle congratulated the couple and said he loved Indian weddings.

Zuckerberg shared pictures from the 2nd day of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding celebrations. In the photograph Mark Zuckerberg can be seen along with his wife Priscilla Chan. The couple is exuding happiness as they prepare for the event. He captioned the picture it is getting wild out here.

The theme of the opening day of the pre-wedding celebrations was Evening in Everland as the guests wore cocktail attire. The first day of the grand celebrations elevated the expectations of the guests for the following days. The theme of the 2nd day of the pre-wedding bash is known as a Walk on the Wildside and the guests can be seen in Jungle Fever attire.

Zuckerberg has opted for an animal print shirt with white trousers, Chan is complementing his look in a strappy one piece in black and golden. The Jungle theme is aligned to Vantara, Reliance’s animal welfare initiative undertaken and launched by Anant Ambani a few days back.

International pop star Rihana electrified the pre wedding celebrations on Friday with an amazing performance, marking her debut appearance in India. The chart topping artist engaged the audience with performances of her iconic hits which included Pour it Up, Work and Diamonds.

Zuckerberg graced the opening day, wearing a black-on-black firefly blazer and shoes from Alexander McQueen while his wife Priscilla wore a black gown with gold flower details and other accessories such as dainty chain bracelet, gold necklace and stud earrings. Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan are one of the Power couples invited from the global business community for the festivities currently underway at Jamnagar.

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