MUMBAI: Even before the iPhone7 became available in retail stores, Apple had announced that the flood of pre-orders had resulted it being sold out in the US. The Cupertino - hqed company is pulling out all the stops to ensure that its debut in India generates as much of good news. And it’s tie ups with the Mukesh Ambai owned Reliance Retail and Jio are steps in that direction.
Buyers of a new iPhone7 and iPhone7 Plus, are being offered Rs 1,499 worth Jio Digital Life services complimentary for 12 months from 1 January 2017. This includes unlimited local, STD and national roaming voice, unlimited text, 20 GB of 4G Data, 40 GB of WiFi Data and Unlimited Night 4G Data, unlimited subscription to premium Jio Applications. The offer is valid in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru only.
And it has also been extended to new purchases of older iPhone models such as the 6s, 6s+, 6, 6+, 5SE across all Reliance Digital stores and select Apple Premium Resellers (APR) and Apple Authorized Resellers (AAR).
Plus of course, they are entitled to the three months of free data, voice and app services until 31 December 2016. Making it a total of 15 months of freebies if they buy one of the above iPhone models now.
“Today’s announcement brings together India’s best premium 4G network with the incredible iPhone experience," said Jio president Mathew Oommen. "Jio is India’s 4G-only network, providing high-speed internet across India. The true power of iPhones can now be experienced by all Indian iPhone users on the Jio network.”
Reliance Retail is offering users the convenience of pre-ordering the iPhone models online and having them delivered, installed and activated with Jio services in their homes.
“It’s a great initiative by Apple, Jio and Reliance Retail,” says a marketing consultant. “It should lead to volume uptakes. However, With Jio’s calls now getting connected with other mobile telcos easier than before, one will have to wait and watch whether it can provide consistent service in both data speeds and in voice.”
Jio is currently under challenge from other mobile providers like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea who have also shaved their 4G wireless broadband prices, in line with it playing the volume and price warrior game.
