Here is why Reliance Jio may NOT extend Welcome Offer to March 2017

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Reliance Jio is silent on whether or not the company will extend its Welcome Offer beyond December 31. Jio had announced Welcome Offer on September 5, under which it allows unlimited HD voice and video calling, unlimited SMS, high-speed data and access to a host of Jio premium apps till 31st December, 2016.

As per Real Time News, Jio officials have denied media reports that it has extended the Welcome Offer till March 2017. “When we checked, sources in the company said such a decision has not been taken yet. The company, which announces all its major decisions to the media and the stock exchanges, has also not made any announcement in this regard”, said the news report.

With gradual improvement in interconnection of calls between Jio and other incumbent operators, Jio is unlikely to extend the promotional scheme and announce its non-promotional tariffs period. 

The  telecom regulator has also taken Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to task for not providing enough interconnection points to Jio. TRAI on Oct 21 slapped heavy penalties on three telecom players amounting to Rs 3,050 crore for not providing sufficient PoIs to Reliance Jio. 

Moreover, Jio is also on the way to upgrade its infrastructure by installing more towers. The company is expected to install around 45,000 mobile towers in the next six months to boost its 4G network.

With the above measures in place, the interconnection between Jio and other service providers is bound to improve, and Reliance Jio may not extend the Welcome Offer of free calls, SMSs in its struggle to retain or garner subscribers.