Reliance Jio is the most recent telecom company in the country. Its efficient 4G network, low-cost services, and attractive offers have taken a huge market share of urban and rural consumers. It offered free calls and cheap data plans at launch, successfully attracting new users. The company has been improving the quality of its service in the rural market.

Jio opened up its 4G services for all in April 2017, thus making it the most affordable 4G network in India.

In this article, we will be discussing how Reliance Jio has taken over the rural community and what challenges it is facing.

Jio Takes The Rural Consumers Market By Storm

Reliance Jio is taking the rural consumers market by storm. They are providing good quality services to people in remote parts of India. The company has evolved with time, ensuring that it’s always on the best side of technology. According to the latest subscriber figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Reliance Jio consolidated its position in rural India, adding 3.48 million subscribers in July, which resulted in a significant loss of Vodafone Idea (0.99 million users) and Airtel (0.41 million users) customer base.

Jio added 6.51 million wireless subscribers, increasing its total user base to 443.21, while Airtel added 1.94 million, boosting its entire user base to 354.05 million. Vi, on the other hand, lost 1.43 million consumers, bringing its overall mobile user base to 271.9 million, demonstrating that it is still unable to compete effectively with Jio and Airtel.

In reality, Jio’s robust rural customer expansion resulted in a 0.41 percent increase in the overall rural telecom subscriber base to 536.74 million in July, recovering from a small decline in June. As lockdown restrictions were removed, allowing migrants to return to work in cities, the number of urban mobile users surged by 0.59 percent to 650.10 million.

Analysts believe Jio’s robust user expansion in rural markets indicates that the COVID-19 lockdowns did not influence its wireless operations. Jio is also the only provider with over 100 million users over 3G and 4G. The company has more than 250 million active customers (including voice and data) on its network.

The Visitor Location Register (VLR), a critical indicator that indicates the number of active subscribers on a mobile network, revealed that Jio had 78.18 percent of the users.

How did Reliance Jio withstand competition?

There was fierce competition from its rival companies, but Reliance Jio grew exponentially. How did it withstand competition?

One reason was that Reliance Jio had a large capital base, and it could afford to buy up a huge chunk of spectrum in the auction. Another reason was that they focused on improving their user experience and building a great product. The company also kept operating costs low through automation, and they were able to keep prices low by managing the cost of their network traffic effectively.

The competitors, Vodafone Idea and Airtel continue to be concerned about Reliance Jio’s Postpaid Plus services since Jio released its new postpaid plans. Mukesh Ambani, the owner of Reliance Industries, stated a goal of reaching 500 million Jio customers in the next three years during the company’s 43rd general meeting.

In a market where most famous telecom companies gave 1GB data per month, Reliance Jio revealed data plans with 1GB 4G data per day when it first launched.

This action was a game-changer in India’s price-sensitive market since pricing for 1 GB 4G data previously ranged between Rs 250 and 300 before dropping to Rs 5 per GB in the early days. Along with these incredible plans, Jio provided free phone calls and 100 free SMS per day to all of its Prime users.

How can Reliance Jio consumers avail of high-speed Internet in rural areas?

India is a diversified country with uneven growth across its regions. The urban and rural areas are defined by significant disparities in access to numerous facilities, including internet connectivity. Several governmental initiatives have been implemented to increase connections in the country’s rural areas. As a result of cheaper mobile phones and mobile data, there has been significant growth in users and internet usage during the last several years.

To increase the Internet speed, users can follow this procedure:

• Go to your phone’s settings
• Then, go to Mobile Networks from the settings menu and select your Reliance Jio Sim’s access point name.
• You’ll need to choose a Jio Sim slot.
• Select Menu from the upper right corner of the screen.
• And select a new APN, then save.

Challenges of providing broadband in rural areas

Limitations in Policy

Despite many governmental measures, the country’s digital divide remains large. Telecommunications expansion has been slower in rural areas than in metropolitan ones, with the former accounting for only one-third of total connections. The National Telecom Policy of 2012 aims to promote the ‘Right to Broadband’ by classifying broadband access as a basic need.

On the other hand, policy efforts have failed to significantly boost the engagement of commercial service providers in enhancing rural connectivity. Efforts to raise digital awareness have also fallen short.

Cost and Availability

Most states give roughly 30-50 units of power for basic lighting free of charge. Despite these precautions, many homeowners choose not to obtain a power line. The seasonal nature of agricultural revenue, a lack of consistent income, high electricity costs, and unanticipated household expenditures are just a few reasons.

Lack of Education

According to the 2011 Census, India’s average literacy rate is 74.04 percent. There is, however, a scarcity of statistics on digital literacy. Increased internet penetration is hampered by low literacy. Furthermore, most internet content is in English, posing a language barrier for rural users.

Insufficient Electricity Generation

Despite claims of complete electrification, the situation on the ground remains dire. The Indian power sector continues to face challenges in ensuring consistent and dependable supply in rural areas. Although the Saubhagya scheme was effective in connecting families to the grid, grid access varies by customer category, utility, and state. Furthermore, grid electricity in these villages is frequently inconsistent and irregular.

Bottom Line: What’s The Way Forward?

The COVID-19 outbreak provides both a moral and potential for India’s rural networking. The current phase, which is currently underway, is more severe than the last one, needing more lockdowns and curfews. Because schools and universities are closed, courses will have to be held online. If transportation is constrained, online transactions and transactions will become crucial. A comprehensive, gender-inclusive, and tractable rural broadband policy framework is required.

The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) suggests a structure that improves digital and financial literacy, generates material in regional and local languages and includes stakeholders in the process. It will be difficult to make it both cost-effective and affordable. The achievement of Digital India’s ambitions will require a renewed focus on rural internet access.