Been there, done that: Reliance Jio's disruption playbook is familiar. Will its mistakes be too?

Better technology, boatloads of cash, unbridled ambition, rapid scaling and 'free'. Reliance Jio's playbook was once Reliance Communication's. It didn't work then, will it now?

From free 4G to free 4G feature phones to free 100 Mbps broadband, Reliance is determined to win market share and become a force to reckon with in telecom

But Reliance didn't get here without making mistakes. Expensive mistakes.

A once 15+ player market is rapidly coalescing into effectively a 3 player market composed of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Idea-Vodafone. Of these, Idea-Vodafone is at risk the most.

Jio will need to stay away from its own disruption Kool-Aid to avoid making the same mistakes it once did launching and running Reliance Communications

There are no new ideas. Only rediscovery or remixing.

The $80-billion Reliance Group’s strategy to disrupt and upend Indian telecom with its Jio brand is testament to this adage, even though the latter’s roots lie in literature and the creative arts, not business.

Customers in multiple Indian cities are currently signing up for free Jio fiber broadband at speeds of up to 100 Megabits.

India’s broadband penetration is under 10% and its average broadband speeds are abysmally low at around 6.5 Mbps.

In late July, Jio announced free 4G feature phones (provided customers agreed to pay a deposit and stay locked in for 3 years) to wrest the middle of India’s telecom pyramid from incumbents.

AUTHOR

Rohin Dharmakumar

Rohin is co-founder and CEO at The Ken. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and an engineering degree in Computer Sciences from the R.V.C.E., Bangalore.

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