Jio 4G service is still a work in progress. Although it was launched in September first week last year, it was a sort of beta launch. Since then there has been a lot of talk about the quality of 4G service that Jio offers. Initially, it was good. But then more people joined the network and it became bad. But after the January 1, when the free Jio service was re-launched, it is improving at a pretty rapid pace. Now in Middle of February it seems to have improved so much that Jio network looks as good as that of Airtel, if not better.
This is something I realised in last couple of weeks, although TRAI data says otherwise. The TRAI data claims that Jio speed has again gone down significantly in January. According TRAI, the Jio download speed January was 8.3mbps, which is less than half of little over 18mbps that it clocked in December.
But my experience differs somewhat. What I have seen in Delhi in the last few weeks that Jio's 4G service has improved its reliability and consistency. Until the middle of January I was using both Jio and Airtel SIM in the same phone. The Airtel one was mostly for calls and related stuff. The Jio SIM was for data. But then I switched entirely to Airtel, which is actually primary number and was there for both data and calls use before Jio entered the picture. The strangest thing that happened after this was that I missed the Jio connection, something I though wouldn't be the case given the fact that Airtel is mostly quite reliable and fast when it comes to its 4G service.
In areas that I frequent -- my office in Noida, my house in south Delhi, the major Delhi markets -- the Jio network now seems as reliable as any other. In fact, after the late hours on evening, Jio is significantly faster than Airtel. On mobile phone, I see it consistently notching up around 5mbps to 6mbps. In some cases, it is more. In some less. But then this performance is enough for it to match Airtel's 4G performance.
Now, these speeds and reliability observations are very subjective. These are not based on the SpeedTest app. That app, I have realised, always gives the results that are significantly better than the speed that users get most of the time. Just one example here: Most speed tests show that the 4G or broadband speed of many connections in India is almost 10mbps or higher. But Netflix, which measures the actual speed at which its video are streamed, says that average internet speed in India is less than 2mbps. It also says that the average speed of India's best internet service provider, which is Airtel, is actually 2.25mbps.
Whether it is the Airtel 4G network or the Jio network, the actual speed and performance of these networks is significantly lower than what they claim to deliver or what the Speed Test app shows
In the similar manner, I have seen that whether it is the Airtel 4G network or the Jio network, the actual speed and performance of these networks is significantly lower than what they claim to deliver or what the Speed Test app shows. And when it comes to the actual network performance, the Jio network is nowadays as good as the Airtel 4G in Delhi.
This is also a kind of surprise because the impression still persists, largely because of all the mistakes Jio has made in first three months after the launch of its services in September, that it is unreliable network. India Today Tech too wrote how bad the Jio network was a few months ago. But gradually, the Jio team seems to be fixing it. The Jio 4G free offer is expected to come to an end on March 31. That is also the date that the Jio team seemingly has in the mind to fix the network.
When Jio launched in September, Reliance made tall claims about the service and the speed it will offer to consumers. Those promises haven't come true and are unlikely to come true anytime soon. But now in middle of February, Jio is at least usable enough to be a credible threat to companies like Airtel and Vodafone, even with paid plans.
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