Few companies, if any, around the world have taken on Google and lived to tell the tale. From online searches to advertising, from email to smartphone software, Google is omnipresent and, more importantly, omnipotent. Yet it is looking to spread its tentacles even further, to the Next Billion Users, as Google calls the prospective Indian smartphone user.
Enter Reliance Jio, with its own blueprint to beat Google to these users. That plan kicked off in 2017 when it put its app-laden feature phone in the hands of Indians who could not afford a smartphone. Jio hopes its rock-bottom prices, and free services will rope in more users.