Reliance JioPhone 'explodes'; intentional sabotage to malign us, says co

A JipPhone customer from Kashmir has alleged that the device exploded while it was on charging mode. Soon, the photos of the exploded phone were shared on Twitter by PhoneRadar.

Responding to the allegations, Jio’s spokesperson said in a statement to Financial Express that the issue is a case of “intentional sabotage”. The Twitter handle that shared the picture of the burned device has now deleted the post.

“JioPhones are designed and manufactured with global standards, and each phone goes through stringent quality control process. The said incident has been reported to us. Our initial investigation suggests that this is a case of intentional sabotage,” said the company in a statement.

JioPhone Photo: PhoneRadar The statement further added that the damage to the device seems to have been intentionally caused to malign the brand and the company will take appropriate action based on further investigations.

The Reliance JioPhone is India’s first 4G LTE-enabled


feature with VoLTE capability. The pre-booking of the phone began recently. The first batch is already out and the second batch is promised by the company to reach by Diwali.

Recently, Micromax also joined the 4G feature phone bandwagon with the launch of Bharat-1 in partnership with BSNL.

Jio effect: Airtel may be launching a Rs 2,500 4G smartphone this Diwali

India's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel in talks with multiple handset makers to bring a 4G smartphone for a price as low as Rs 2,500-2,700 to take on Reliance Jio.

While Mukesh Ambani-led Jio has announced plans to offer Internet-enabled feature phone for a refundable deposit of Rs 1,500, Airtel is placing its bet on a full-fledged smartphone as it believes people would be ready to shell out a little more to get a loaded handset.

A source familiar with the development said the new 4G smartphone - that will debut around Diwali - will come bundled with Airtel's 4G connection and "attractive" data and voice plan to woo mass market customers.

The planned dual SIM 4G smartphone will sport a four-inch display, dual camera, VoLTE calling and a longer battery life.

The Android handset will come with 1 GB RAM, said the source who wished not to be named.

He, however, did not say when the phones would be available for booking.

Reliance Jio had, in July, announced that formal bookings for Jio Phone would open on August 24, while the phone itself is expected to be available from September.

According to industry estimates, six million bookings have been recorded for JioPhone, that offers free voice calls and sms for life. Unlimited data offering comes for Rs 153 per month.
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Reliance JioPhone will force incumbents to protect subscribers: Jefferies

Reliance Jio's newly launched JioPhone aimed at over 50-crore feature phone users will pose a stiff challenge to incumbents to protect their subscriber market share, investment banking firm Jefferies has said.

"The monthly plan compares favourably against the blended ARPU (average revenue per unit) of top three incumbents, but it does provide a cap. Even though the pricing is not as disruptive as feared, it will still be a stiff challenge to incumbents to protect their subscriber market share," Jefferies said in a report.

Jio launched its much-awaited 4G feature phone, which will be made available from September. The device is priced at Rs 1,500, collected as a fully refundable deposit, refundable at the end of three years.

The company is targeting shipments of 5 million phones a week. The monthly plan for Rs 153 would offer unlimited voice/SMS and 0.5GB of data per day. There are two sachet plans for Rs 24 and Rs 54 with validity of two and seven days respectively.

The phone can be connected to the television through a Jio Phone cable. However, this will require enrollment to the Rs 309 per month plan (1GB per day allowance) which will allow three-four hours of daily video streaming.
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