Reliance Jio has cable operators running for shelters as its new GigaFiber FTTH broadband service is rapidly rolling out. While announcing the service at the company's 41st annual general meeting (AGM) in July, Mukesh Ambani promised to bring the service to 1,100 cities across India August 15 onwards and the company has almost reached 900 cities.
Reliance Jio is yet to confirm the commercial rollout date for GigaFiber, but it is currently fulfilling demands of registrations from interested parties. Areas with the highest amount of registrations get Jio GigaFiber first and in that order, the rollout will continue. Since the company has already completed almost 90 percent of its first-stage rollout, the remaining cities and towns will soon receive Jio's FTTH service.
Based on the rumours so far, Reliance Jio could commercially rollout the GigaFiber service across India this Diwali in November. Until then, the company will iron out any issues that it might have with the service as a part of its ongoing trials.
Even before the company started rolling out Jio GigaFiber in 1,100 cities, Reliance Jio had been conducting trials with a limited number of users for several months. So the users who are receiving the service now will likely have a much stable network.
There are no reports from users about the quality of the service or anything related to network congestion – a major setback for Jio when it first started rolling out its 4G network commercially. Considering GigaFiber is fiber broadband, there's little to no possibility of a similar situation. But the company promising 1Gbps speeds, which is in ideal situations while users can expect it be slower than that.
Jio GigaFiber plans
There are plenty of rumours about Jio GigaFiber plans and packages, but there's nothing concrete. What we know for certain is that Reliance Jio will disrupt the cable and broadband industry. According to an earlier ET report, the GigaFiber plans are expected to start at Rs 500 a month, which is at least 50 percent cheaper than the current plans from rivals.
Reliance Jio is not charging customers for GigaFiber installations, but there may be a fixed security deposit to be paid at the time of installation. The security deposit will remain refundable until the customer decides to disconnect the services.
Jio GigaFiber will come bundled with GigaTV service which would offer internet-based digital content services and access to its suite of MyJio apps. Bundling broadband and TV services together at affordable prices takes a jibe at broadband and cable service providers. Reliance Jio is killing two birds with one stone on this one.
Jio GigaFiber registrations
Interested folks can register for GigaFiber from the company's official website, Jio.com, and via MyJio app. "Make sure you register your interest, and more importantly make sure that your neighbours register so that your locality will be among the first to get it," Ambani had said during his AGM speech.
If your city hasn't received GigaFiber service, the best way is to register for the service yourself and spread the word in your locality.
