The Q2 additions bring the global number of 5G subscriptions close to 1.3 billion, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.

In the second quarter (Q2), the number of mobile subscriptions totalled 8.3 billion, with a net addition of 40 million subscriptions during the quarter.

The number of unique mobile subscribers was 6.1 billion.

India accounted for the most net additions during the quarter (over 7 million). India was followed by China (five million) and the US (three million) mobile subscribers.

“About 260 communications service providers (CSPs) have launched commercial 5G services. About 35 CSPs have launched 5G standalone (SA) networks,” the report added.

Global mobile subscription penetration was 105 per cent in the second quarter.

The number of mobile broadband subscriptions grew by about 100 million in the quarter, totalling 7.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5 per cent. Mobile broadband now accounts for 88 per cent of all mobile subscriptions, the findings showed.

Mobile data traffic grew by 33 per cent between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023. 4G subscriptions increased by 11 million, totalling about 5.2 billion and representing 62 per cent of all mobile subscriptions.

The number of mobile broadband subscriptions grew by about 100 million in the quarter, totalling 7.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5 per cent. Mobile broadband now accounts for 88 per cent of all mobile subscriptions, said the report.

— IANS

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Interest subscribers recharging their prepaid Jio mobile numbers with Rs 299 will get 7GB of extra data in addition to 2GB of data per data, unlimited voice calls, and 100 SMS per day for 28 days. Another recharge plan under Jio’s seventh Anniversary offer is for Rs 749. This plan will offer 14GB of extra data with two coupons for 7GB each. Apart from this extra data, users will get 2GB of data per data, unlimited voice calls, and 100 SMS per day for 90 days. 

The last recharge plan under this offer is for Rs 2,999 and gives many special benefits including 21GB of extra data with three coupons for 7GB each, a Rs 200 discount on Ajio, a 20 percent discount on Netmeds (up to Rs 800), Rs 100 discount on Swiggy, free McDonald’s meal on purchase of Rs 149 and above, 10 percent discount on Reliance digital, and up to Rs 1500 discount on flights and up to 15 percent discount on hotels (up to Rs 4,000) with Yatra. These extra benefits with the Rs 2,999 plan will come in addition to 2.5GB of data per day, unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS per day for 365 days. 

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries recently hosted its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in India. At this event, the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Akash Ambani and the President of Reliance Industries Limited Kiran Thomas announced Jio Smart Home Services. It includes three major components: Jio AirFibre, which is the company’s broadband service; the Set-top-box; and the Jio Home app that will act as one-point access for controlling all the connected devices.

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Under the new initiative, Vi Max Individual and Family postpaid users will have the choice of opting for a range of benefits from a premium partner across the four categories. In other words, depending on the plan you are subscribing to, you will have a number of choice options for benefits under your subscription. The benefits under the four categories are as follows:

Entertainment: Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, and SunNXT

Food: 6 months of subscription to EazyDiner with a 50 percent discount at premium restaurants and bars

Travel: 1-year subscription to EaseMyTrip, along with Rs 750 off on round trip booking or Rs 400 off on one-way flight tickets every month

Mobile Security: 1-year subscription to Norton Anti-Virus protection for 1 mobile device

“By integrating preferred OTT subscriptions, enhanced security measures, and lifestyle privileges, we’re delivering a holistic solution that resonates with the digital lifestyle of today’s users,” said Avneesh Khosla, chief marketing officer at Vi.

Vi Max Individual Plans with benefit choices: 

Vi Max Family Plans with benefit choices:

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“Our extensive optical fibre presence puts us in close proximity to over 200 million premises. Yet, providing physical last-mile connectivity is a painstaking process in most parts of our country,” said Ambani during the presentation to the shareholders. Jio AirFiber will help the company leverage its 5G network to offer fixed wireless access (FWA) service to customers without needing to lay down optical fibre for high-speed internet in far-flung and remote areas. Jio Fiber’s optical fibre infrastructure spans over 1.5 million kilometres across India, with an addition of 1000km of fibre every day. However, the company hopes its FWA service will minimise the burden of expanding the fibre network in order to reach every nook and corner of the country.

How 5G Wi-Fi services work and how much they cost

For the technology to work, the router will rely on the signals from the nearest cell towers to offer 5G internet, much like your mobile phone but with better antennas to capture strong signals. While Jio has yet to announce its device and demonstrate its working, Airtel earlier this month explained how the FWA technology will help the company offer last-mile high-speed connectivity to customers. Airtel’s Xstream AirFiber is a plug-and-play device that uses the built-in Wi-Fi 6 technology to offer wide indoor coverage. It can support up to 64 device connections at the same time while offering 50 percent higher speed than Wi-Fi 5 routers. It is likely that the Jio AirFiber device will also come with the Wi-Fi 6 technology to offer high internet speeds.

Alongside the launch of the Jio AirFiber device, the company is also expected to announce plans for the upcoming service. According to a report by the Economic Times, Jio AirFiber will cost 20 percent less than Airtel’s Xstream AirFiber. Its price may be roughly Rs 6,000, whereas Airtel’s Xstream AirFiber costs Rs 4,794 for a six-month plan along with a security deposit of 2,500, totalling Rs 7,294. The estimated cost of the Jio AirFiber is expected to include both tariff plans and the security deposit for the plug-and-play device.

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For the unversed, Jio‘s prepaid plan worth Rs 119 offered 1.5GB of daily data to the company’s prepaid subscribers. In addition to the daily data, Jio’s Rs 119 also offered unlimited voice calling along with 100 SMS per day to the subscribers. The plan came with a validity of 14 days.

Jio’s cheapest prepaid plan in India

As mentioned before, with today’s move, Jio’s plan worth Rs 149 has become its entry level 4G prepaid plan in the country. This plan offers 1GB of data per day and it comes with a validity of 20 days. In total, Jio’s Rs 149 prepaid plan offers 20GB of data. Once this daily data limit expires, the speed of the network will reduce to 64Kbps. Users, who require more high-speed data can opt for data-booster plans for the same. Jio’s Data Booster plans start at Rs 15 and go all the way up to Rs 222, offering 1GB and 50GB of data respectively.

In addition to the daily data, this plan offers unlimited voice calling functionality with 100 SMS per day. Additionally, prepaid subscribers who recharge their mobile numbers with this plan will also get access to JioTV, JioCinema and JioCloud subscriptions.

Jio is not alone

It is worth noting that Jio is not the only telecom operator that has upgraded the base pricing of its prepaid plans in India. Airtel, earlier this year, the discontinued its prepaid plan worth Rs 99 making its plan worth Rs 155 its cheapest offering in the segment. This plan offers a total of 1GB of data and it comes with a validity of 28 days. It also offers 300 SMS to the users.

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According to a report by The Economic Times Tech, out of Delhi Metro’s 390.1Km-long network, roughly 102.4Km-long stretch lies underground with the Yellow Line having the maximum number of underground metro stations followed by Pink Line, Magenta Line and Violet Line. To ensure connectivity at all underground metro stations, DMRC is working with telecom service providers such as Bharti Enterprises’ Airtel, RIL’s Jio and Vodafone Idea or Vi, to help in installing cables and other infrastructure to make 5G network available to the commuters.

The report says that the groundwork of laying cables and installing equipment throughout the length of the underground tunnels and metro stations is expected to be completed within next four to five months. The organisation is using telecom equipment such as in-building solutions or IBS at the underground metro stations to provide 5G connectivity and small cells or repeaters to help boost the signal strength and coverage in an area of around 100 metres.

A DMRC official told the publication that the process of installing telecom infrastructure to provide 5G connectivity at underground metro stations is particularly challenging as the upgradation work can be carried out only at night to ensure that metro services aren’t affected.

5G connectivity in India

It is worth noting Jio and Airtel having been actively strengthening the availability of their 5G network in India ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally announced the service in October 2022. Both the telecom operators recently announced that they have completed the first phase of roll out of 5G connectivity in India. While Jio has promised to provide pan-India 5G connectivity by the end of 2023, Airtel has set March 2024 deadline for the same. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, is yet to begin rolling out its 5G services in India. This means that while Airtel and Jio subscribers will soon be able to access high-speed 5G connectivity throughout the length and breadth of Delhi Metro, Vi users will have to wait a little longer for the service to become available.

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Is there ever a reason to block vs mute someone?

Give your reasons.

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) August 18, 2023

If a user uses X Block feature to block some accounts, he/she restricts them from interacting with him/her in any way on the platform. 

“Blocking helps people in restricting specific accounts from contacting them, seeing their Tweets, and following them. If you have been blocked by another account on Twitter, you can still block other accounts (including any that have blocked you),” as per X’s help page.

On the other hand, Mute simply hides their post from your timeline and they will not know that they have been muted. They will remain on your following list. “Mute is a feature that allows you to remove an account’s Tweets from your timeline without unfollowing or blocking that account. Muted accounts will not know that you’ve muted them and you can unmute them at any time,” X wrote on its help page. 

X users have been frequently resorting to the X Block feature to stop trolls or any unwanted comments from some specific account on their posts. However, there is still no clarity on when the Block feature will get removed from the platform. If Musk reverses his decision before implementing it, this will not be the first time. Earlier, Elon Musk announced a plan to remove the light-mode option from the platform but later he rolled back the decision saying, “A lot of people have asked to keep light mode, so we will, but the default will be dark and dim will be deleted”. 

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A Netflix mobile-only plan will come bundled with Jio’s Rs 1,099 plan, whereas a Rs 1,499 plan will give subscribers access to Netflix Basic. While the Netflix Mobile plan allows customers to enjoy movies and shows on a mobile phone, the Basic plan allows them to use it on a television or a tablet, however, only in SD quality. Both plans have a validity of 84 days. With this launch, over 400 million Jio prepaid customers will get the option of availing a Netflix subscription through a Jio Prepaid bundled plan.

“The launch of Netflix bundles with our prepaid plan is yet another step to demonstrate our resolve. Our partnership with global partners like Netflix has grown in strength and together we are creating use cases for the rest of the world to follow,” said Kiran Thomas, CEO, Jio Platforms Limited.

Latest Netflix India releases

Netflix India has built a distinct and diverse slate of films and series across a variety of genres and innovative formats. Over recent years, Netflix has delivered several local hit series and films such as Delhi Crime, Rana Naidu, Class, Kohrra, Darlings, RRR, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Monica O My Darling, Shehzada, Lust Stories and many more.

“Over the years, we have launched a variety of successful local shows, documentaries and films which have been loved by audiences across India. Our collection of must-watch stories is growing and our new prepaid bundle partnership with Jio will give more customers access to this exciting line-up of Indian content as well as some incredible stories from around the world,” said Tony Zameczkowski, Vice President of APAC Partnerships for Netflix.

In addition to the incredible Indian titles, Netflix offers a huge choice of world-class shows and films from around the world, including global hits like Money Heist, Squid Game, Never Have I Ever, Stranger Things, Wednesday and many more. Earlier this year, Netflix announced a slate of exciting Tamil and Telugu language films, including Beast, Godfather, Dhamaka, Love Today, Major, Dasara and Virupaksham.

— Written with inputs from IANS

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“This is a SAMPLE TESTING MESSAGE sent through the Cell Broadcasting System by the Department of Telecommunication, Government of India. Please ignore this message as no action is required from your end. This message has been sent to TEST Pan-India Emergency Alert System being implemented by National Disaster Management Authority. It aims to enhance public safety and provide timely alerts during emergencies,” reads a flash message received by multiple smartphone users.

Why you should not panic seeing the emergency alert

According to Cell Broadcasting System by the Department of Telecommunications, such tests will be conducted on a regular basis in various regions to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of mobile operators’ and cell broadcast systems’ emergency warning broadcast capabilities. The government is working with the National Disaster Management Authority to improve preparedness for disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and flash floods. Last month, the government tested the same alert with several users in the country, so you can expect these alerts to pop up on your mobile phone screen more often.

The emergency flash message was sent around 1:35 pm on all Android phones through the Cell Broadcasting System by the Department of Telecommunication (C-DOT). After receiving the alert on their smartphones, a number of users took to X (previously Twitter) to check if they were not alone.

“Got an Emergency Severe Alert on my Mobile from Government with a Loud Beep! Interesting! Now came Twice First in English and then in Hindi,” a user wrote. “I got it too. Now I got another that says. Emergency alert: Severe. Police Warning in this area until 12.14 AM CDT Execute Action 200404. Anyone know what this means?” another user said.

— Written with inputs from IANS

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The Airtel 5G Plus network began rolling out in India in October last year with four metro cities. In more than 10 months, the telecom company has reached more than 3,500 cities, covering a vast majority of all telecom circles. Airtel said it has introduced 5G services on 26GHz spectrum in all 22 telecom circles.

“With broader 5G opportunities enabled by 26GHz, the company is poised to continuously drive innovation to create the ultimate Airtel 5G Plus experience for its customers,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Airtel said it has surpassed the 10 million unique customer mark on its 5G network and is on track to cover every town and rural area with its 5G service by September this year. This is an expedition to the company’s previous goal where it said the 5G network in the entire country will be available by December 2023. Airtel currently offers 5G data to both prepaid and postpaid customers at no additional cost.

Earlier this month, the company announced its audited consolidated results for the first quarter ended June 30. The consolidated revenues for Q1 FY24 at Rs 37,440 crore, that grew 14.1 percent (on-year). India revenues stood at Rs 26,375 crore, increased by 13.1 percent year over year.

What’s with Vi 5G?

While Airtel and Reliance Jio have completed the minimum rollout obligation, the third leading private telecom company Vi is likely struggling to secure funds to initiate the 5G rollout. Recently, Vi informed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the company is planning to pay Rs 1,680 crore for the second instalment for the 5G spectrum it acquired last year for Rs 18,799 crore in the auction. On the other hand, DoT, as reported by Mint, may impose hefty fines on Vi, as well as Adani Data Networks — which also acquired 5G airwaves in last year’s auction, for not complying with the minimum 5G rule.

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