Reliance Jio may offer data plans at a third of "current market rates", when it rolls out 4G services in December, this year.
The telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries could be preparing to launch 4G services at one-third price as that of the current data plans offered by other players such as Airtel, Idea and Vodafone, said a source close to the development.
"Jio is likely to offer 1GB at close to Rs 60," an industry executive familiar with Jio's plans told The Economic Times.
Currently, the telecom operators are charging 1 GB of data in the range Rs 150 and Rs 200. Reliance Jia plans to take on fierce competition with aggressive pricing of its data plans.
Jio is partnering with a few handset makers to roll out 8-10 million 4G devices per month in India, with most of them to be priced below Rs 4,000, the source said.
"If we find that there are no devices at certain price points or there are gaps, then Reliance Retail is contemplating to engage with mobile phone makers to make it available," the company's spokesperson said.
The company said that it is currently working with handset vendors such as Apple, Samsung, Micromax, Lava, Karbonn, Motorola, Sony, LG and Micromax, to launch the 4G devices.
Jio on Friday said that it would spend Rs 1 lakh crore towards launching 4G services in December. The company said that it had already invested three-fourth of the amount outlined for the services.
"We are in the final lap of launch of our Jio services which will bring about a positive transformation in the lives of millions of Indians," RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a statement on Friday.
The company is expected to start beta programme of 4G services in the coming weeks before launching commercially in December 2015.
