When there is high demand for a product, it turns out that the freebies associated with that product might actually end up costing the company, despite its popularity. Either the freebies are gone completely, or you’re charged a premium price, but if you’re still getting the free stuff, that’s a win-win situation for you.
This is exactly what happened with the announcement of the Reliance Jio 4G SIM card, which promises subscribers mobile internet for absolutely no charge till December 31, 2016. What this means is that you can use cellular data and never have to worry about any limits. Unfortunately, it looks like you might be a bit out of luck, especially if you want to get your hands on a Reliance Jio 4G SIM card.
According to sources close to the issue at hand, these SIM cards are being sold by the local retailers at a premium between Rs. 50 and Rs. 500, but that’s only a small amount that you would have to pay in order to start enjoying free internet. Initially, consumers wouldn’t mind waiting for long hours to get their hands on the SIM card, especially if it meant that they would be able to enjoy free internet for a considerably long period. Unfortunately, it is also possible that there are no SIM cards available, thanks to the ever-growing demand.
Reliance didn’t anticipate this sort of popularity, the local mobile stores are at freedom to do what they please with these SIM cards, including raising their prices for better profits. They do not under Reliance’s jurisdiction, giving them to freedom to sell Jio SIM cards on the black market. Reliance has strictly said that any such dealings will lead to huge repercussions, which means that local mobile stores are going to have to be extra careful with such practices.
With more 16 million subscribers, Reliance clearly has the lead here, and its prices are also quite competitive, which will naturally give consumers the much-needed incentive to immediately jump to their network. Reliance Jio will be commercially launched on January 1, 2017, after which consumers will have to start paying for their data consumption.