SOURCE : DNA INDIA NEWS
Reliance Jio aims to phase out 2G and 3G networks nationwide and it has urged the government to do the same.
Akash Ambani led Reliance Jio has revolutionised the telecom sector in the country by launching a range of affordable devices and plans. Jio is often credited for the wide distribution of the 4G and 5G network in the country. Over the past few months, Akash Ambani and his father Mukesh Ambani have been pushing to free the 25 crore feature phone users who are still ‘trapped’ in the 2G era. The Ambani-owned Reliance Jio launched a few feature rich and affordable 4G phones to make transition of 2G and 3G users easier. Now, Reliance Jio aims to phase out 2G and 3G networks nationwide and it has urged the government to do the same. In response to a consultation paper issued by TRAI, Jio emphasised the need for a clear policy and roadmap for the complete shutdown of 2G and 3G networks.
“The Government should come out with a policy and glidepath for closing down the 2G and 3G networks completely so that unnecessary network costs should be avoided, and all customers can be migrated to 4G and 5G services. This will also give great impetus to developing ecosystem to 5G use cases.” Akash Ambani’s Reliance Jio said in response to TRAI’s consultation paper.
Supporting Jio’s response to an extent, Vodafone Idea (VI) highlighted the challenges faced by the companies for 5G penetration due to the abundance of 2G/3G enabled smartphones in the country and high costs of 5G phones. VI suggested that the government should start paying subsidies for people to give up their feature phones and start using 5G-enabled smartphones.
