Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched a WhatsApp-style over-the-top voice and messaging application ahead of its planned entry into India’s mobile market .
Jio Chat offers voice and video calling, SMS and rich messaging services over the user’s mobile connection or a WiFi network.
The Jio Chat app is now available to customers with Apple and Android-powered devices; it requires Android 2.3 or iOS6.0 and above.
The move to provide free voice and messaging services to Indian smartphone users comes as Reliance Jio prepares to launch 4G mobile services in the market.
The Jio Chat app will help it to build its brand in advance of the launch and will potentially attract users to its network, which will be geared towards data services.
The firm holds a pan-Indian licence and added to its existing spectrum holdings by securing 800 MHz and 1800 MHz frequencies at a cost of just over 100 billion rupees (€1.5 billion) in last month’s auction.
It aims to launch 4G later this year, but has thus far been reluctant to share any projected dates.
According to a report in the Economic Times last month, Reliance Jio is battling a number of technical challenges as it rolls out its network. The paper also cited unnamed sources as saying the backhaul and billing systems for the network are not yet in place, and that the firm is having difficulties securing sites and permissions to lay fibre.
Regulations require Reliance Jio to launch services by the second half of this year, five years after it was allocated spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band, but according to the ET, it is racing against the clock to meet this deadline.
The paper’s sources speculated that the telco is closest to launching services in Mumbai and Gandhinagar, where trials are taking place.
