Reliance Jio May Bring Ultra-Cheap LTE Mobile Hotspot Devices to Aggressively Push 4G Services!

The December deadline of Reliance Jio’s impending 4G services launch is nearing and from what we are hearing, Reliance Jio is aggressively approaching the market. Rumours are afloat that they will be launching an ultra-portable LTE Mobile Hotspot device that will enable even non-4G handsets to enjoy the 4G data speeds.

The Mobile Hotspots or Mi-Fi devices will enable Reliance Jio to broaden their market beyond 4G smartphones.

Sandip Agarwal, telecom analyst at Edelweiss Securities told Telegraph India, “As purchasing new LTE handsets will entail additional investment for existing users, Reliance Jio is expected to aggressively promote LTE hotspot (Mi-fi) devices to expand its addressable LTE services market. It may also offer bundled offers to improve penetration of LTE handsets”

While the 4G smartphones are now getting launched in large numbers, and their prices have also come down to level where ordinary folks can buy them (Cheapest 4G handsets are available for as low as Rs. 5000 now), it is still a relatively small market.

The Mi-Fi devices in question can have 10 different devices connected to them wirelessly and these devices can enjoy 4G speeds. However, these Mi-Fi devices cost upwards Rs. 3000. But it is expected that Reliance Jio may actually undercut the prices and bring down the price to Rs. 1500, making it affordable to masses.

However, one disadvantage of Mi-Fi devices is that consumers will need to carry an extra device with them to access 4G mobile internet

Currently, the interest in Reliance Jio 4G services is very high as many experts and analysts believe that Jio 4G prices will be far cheaper than those of Airtel, Vodafone and others.

Airtel already has the first mover advantage as they have launched 4G in over 296 towns and cities in India. Other companies like Vodafone and Idea Cellular are also expected to launch their 4G services in December.

As consumers, we are surely going to witness some interesting fight among the operators when it comes to 4G mobile internet!