India set to accelerate 4G adoption, Reliance Jio to gain: IDFC report

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Seamless coverage along the highways, voice call clarity, above-par experience of entertainment applications — especially Jio Play — and faster data speeds were the key highlights

Predicting a much faster adoption of 4G telecom services in India than the previous generation, IDFC Securities has said in a report that it found the Reliance Jio offering to be impressive but for some resolvable initial issues.

“Apart from initial teething issues in activating the SIM, the overall experience of using the R-Jio connection was far superior to incumbents’ services,” the investment banking division of the infrastructre finance company IDFC said.

“Seamless coverage along the highways, voice call clarity, above-par experience of entertainment applications — especially Jio Play — and faster data speeds were the key highlights,” it said.

“However, there is scope for improvement in in-building coverage (lift shafts, basements, shopping malls). During our testing, we observed that Airtel 4G network was perhaps the closest to offering a similar experience.”

Overall, IDFC Securities was upbeat on the adoption of 4G services.

“We believe 4G adoption rate in India would be possibly faster than 3G as the device ecosystem and network availability are maturing rapidly,” it said, adding online video content would be the key growth driver, benefitting content owners.

“Amid the changing landscape, R-Jio is gearing up to offer a complete communication services bouquet on an all-IP network which could disrupt the marketplace,” the report said, predicting some innovative pricing strategies to grab higher revenues.

The report also gave its views on the tests conducted across Mumbai.

“We extensively tested the R-Jio network across a stretch of 225 km, covering the length and breadth of Mumbai, at stationary conditions in residential and commercial complexes and while travelling at 60-80 kmph,” it said.

“The Jio network fared much better than peers most of the times, while the Airtel 4G network came very close in terms of availability and data throughput. We concede that relatively under-utilised network could have resulted in a good network experience.”

The report said what differentiated R-Jio from its peers was its approach of offering the full bouquet of communications and entertainment services — and felt incumbants like Bharti Bharti Airtel, what with its DTH business, may have missed the first-mover advantage.

Among the various apps available on the Reliance service, IDFC Securities said Jio Play was the fulcrum of content offerings, allowing a user to watch over 300 TV channels live.

It also found Jio beats for music, Jio On Demand for movies, Jio Xpress for news, Jio Mags for views, Jio Money as prepaid wallet and Jio Join for voice calls, which will be billed as data, to be useful applications.