Reliance JIo LTE – A Serious Threat to Reliance / MTS / Tata Photon EVDO Broadband

Reliance Jio to Compete with EVDO BroadbandReliance Jio Infocomm‘s 4G LTE and FTTH is a serious threat to hi-speed EVDO based broadband dongles as a natural initial market. The dongle business marries well with the expected USP of Reliance Jio’s service offering – speed. High average usage on dongles (we estimate usage of around 1.5-1.8 GB/month/sub across the estimated EVDO dongle subs base of 8-9 mn in the country), low customer expectations on seamless coverage (versus handset customers), and no need for voice capabilities makes dongles a natural market for Jio to focus on.

EVDO Broadband offerings from Reliance NetConnect, Tata Photon and MTS MBlaze have a lion’s share of the dongle market

Read more

Reliance NetConnect / Tata DoCoMo E-VDO Dongle Business Saturating

Reliance NetConnect Wireless BroadbandIdea Cellular Executives who discussed 3G Data Uptake in India are of the view that the Dongle or Data-card business (dominated by CDMA EV-DO operators: RCOM, Tata, MTS) may face growth-constraints over the medium-term due to the following factors,

  1. Slowdown in laptop and Desktop PC sales
  2. Growth in Tablets and Phablets [Mobile Smartphones with 5-to-6inch screen]
  3. Growing tendency to use 3G-activated smartphones as personal Wi-Fi hotspots and
  4. Narrowing of the price-performance and network coverage gap

    Read more