io has announced that it will stop charging its customers for off-net or Jio to non-Jio voice calls and Vodafone is set to shut its 3G services in Delhi.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Telecom giants Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have made major announcements.
- Jio has announced that it will stop charging its customers for off-net or Jio to non-Jio voice calls
- Vodafone is set to shut its 3G services in Delhi.
Telecom giants Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have made major announcements. Jio has announced that it will stop charging its customers for off-net or Jio to non-Jio voice calls and Vodafone is set to shut its 3G services in Delhi. While Jio’s announcement would make the subscribers happy, Vodafone’s decision to shut 3G services can be worrisome.
Jio announced that due to the abolition of interconnect usage charges (IUC) charges by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it is waving off the charges for off-net or Jio to non-Jio calls.
“Honouring its commitment to revert off-net domestic voice-call charges to zero, as soon as IUC charges are abolished, Jio will once again make all off-net domestic voice calls free, starting 1st January 2021. On-net domestic voice calls have always been free on the Jio network,” the telco noted in an official release.
“Jio is committed to lay the foundation of a digital society a society where everything, everyone everywhere is connected with the best quality service, at the lowest price globally, and has access to the most advanced digital platforms. Through technological innovation, Jio will continue to deliver revolutionary products and services to its users, with a customer-first approach,” Jio said in a statement.
The new change would make the Jio subscribers happy because until now, Jio gave 300 to 12,000 FUP minutes depending on the price of the prepaid plans.
Vodafone, on the other hand, has been sending out messages to its subscribers about the discontinuation of the 3G services for a while now. A Gadgets 360 report has also confirmed that Vi is all set to shut its 3G services. Subscribers who did not upgrade their SIM to 4G will get voice calling through 2G. This means that the data services will not be available on the old sim connections.
“The year 2020 has brought about massive changes in consumer behaviors. While the data demand has grown manifold, telecom network today has become the mandatory layer to exist in a digital society. This has drawn focus on the criticality of 24×7 high-speed mobile network connectivity across both- commercial as well as residential areas,” Vi had said in a statement.
However, this would force the subscribers to move to their nearby Vi store to upgrade their SIM to 4G to continue to get data and voice services on their phones. This would not have been a problem on normal days but during COVID, stepping out does not seem like the best idea. But in order to continue getting the data and calling services, Vodafone subscribers who do not have 4G SIM will need to step out and get the new SIM. However, Vodafone Idea is yet to make an official announcement about the same.
