Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is celebrating its 40 years anniversary this year and to mark this auspicious occasion, the company's chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani led a breakthrough Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday.
While the address covered a wide range of topics from Reliance Jio's achievements in the last few months to RIL's significant growth in the last four decades and future goals for both, the launch of 4G VoLTE-supported feature phone aptly called Jio Phone remained a key highlight.
The "India ka smartphone - JioPhone" comes with crucial upgrades that make traditional feature phones obsolete, and the phone's Rs. 0 price tag makes it even more relevant to 50 crore Indians who still use non-internet phones. With the launch, we expect people lining up to buy the free Jio Phone across the country, just like they did when the Jio SIM was launched with unlimited voice and data benefits last year.
From discounted Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan scheme for Jio Phone users to a new TV-cable to enjoy unlimited entertainment content on all types of televisions including CRTs and voice command support, Jio Phone is one of the most disruptive launches in the hardware industry in the country.
Curiosity to buy the Jio Phone has put thousands on the edge of their seats and here's how you can book it.
Firstly, Jio Phone is launched for free, but there will be a one-time Rs. 1,500 security deposit to all those who want to buy the phone. This is to avoid any misuse of the phone being available for free. The security deposit is refundable and it will be returned to Jio Phone owners after three years.
Jio Phone will be available in three batches. The phone will be available first to beta testers August 15 onwards, and pre-booking for the free 4G VoLTE smart feature phone to all consumers will begin on August 24.
To place a pre-booking request, interested buyers can head over to Reliance Retail outlets or do so from MyJio app. The phones will start shipping in September, but the date was not revealed by Ambani during the AGM.
Since a massive demand is expected for the free Jio Phone, RIL is committed to making 5 million phones available every week. But that will be distributed across hundreds of Reliance stores, which means getting your hands on one can be nothing short of an uphill struggle.
