Indian telco extended a welcome free offering until the end of March 2017.
Indian mobile operator Reliance Jio extended its free mobile service promotion until the end of March 2017.
The operator announced a new “Happy New Year” offer including free voice, data and Jio apps to both new and existing customers. After that date, Reliance Jio said it plans to charge only for data, with free voice and text messaging.
The telco also announced that since it launched services on Sept. 5, it has attracted 52 million customers, signing up nearly 600,000 customers per day. The company soft-launched 4G services for employees at the end of 2015.
The telco has been receiving complaints regarding the low speeds of the service. Company head Mukesh Ambani said the issue is related to the high number of new subscribers taking advantage of the free services.
“With 52 million customers taking full advantage of the free [offer], it has caused slowdowns, but only on 8% of our towers,” Ambani said.
During a recent spectrum auction, Reliance Jio obtained 269.2 megahertz of additional spectrum in the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.3 GHz bands.
Rival operators Bharti Airtel Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Idea Cellular already offer LTE services.
Telstra shuts down GSM infrastructure in Australia
In other APAC news, Australian operator Telstra shut down its GSM network on Dec. 1. The network was originally switched on in 1993.
The telco said GSM subscribers, which currently represent less than 1% of the telco’s mobile traffic, would no longer be able to make or receive calls, send or receive text messages, access voicemail or use data services. Telstra is urging GSM subscribers to upgrade to a 3G/4G device and to obtain a free 3G/4G SIM card.
