Merrill Lynch survey: 71% respondents say Reliance Jio 4G speeds have slowed down

Highlights: 
1. Majority of the Jio respondents (71%) were of the opinion that Jio internet speeds were good initially but have slowed.
2. Nearly three out of every four customers surveyed said that they come to Jio only for the free data to download and save videos.
3. Over 200 respondents said that they do not even remember their Jio phone numbers.
4. Over 94% respondents cumulatively said that they would continue using Jio as either a primary or secondary SIM.
5. Nearly 70% of respondents who said they would subscribe to Jio post end of freebies said that they prefer the Rs303/month plan.
6. Nearly 100 respondents said that they were not aware of the latest Prime Membership offer announced on February 21.

A survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that 84% of the total 1000 Jio survey respondents were willing to subscribe to Jio Prime Membership for Rs 99.

“With all the caveats that accompany surveys in a country as large as India, the results are stark: 84% of Jio users we surveyed suggest they will subscribe to the Prime offer,” Sanjay Mookim and Krishan Binani analysts of BoA said.

The analysts further commented on estimated revenue of Jio, “We estimate Jio could achieve EBITDA/PAT breakeven with 60/135million subscribers (c.Rs.290/month ARPU [average revenue per user]).”

A closer look at the survey responses. Does it bode well for Jio?

Listed below are the questions from the survey and the answers depicted in chart form.

1. Do you have Jio SIM? 

The survey showed that 65% of respondents had Jio as their primary SIM card while 25% had it as a secondary SIM.

“Our survey of over 1000 Jio users revealed that 65% of them use Jio as primary SIM, with a quarter using it as secondary SIM. This appears on the higher side, but could be a reflection of constraints of current handsets where 4G is only available on primary SIM slot,” BoA said.

2. Do you think Jio offers noticeably better data speeds?

At a time when Jio is battling Airtel over ‘fastest’ internet speeds nearly 350 out of 1000 respondents said that Jio speeds were inconsistent and 50 people said that there was no difference in speeds between other networks and Jio.

3. What is your experience with voice calling on Jio?

Almost half of Jio users that were surveyed were still facing problems with network connectivity.

4. When the call goes through, do you think the quality of voice on Jio is?

Nearly half of the respondents found no difference between Jio’s 4G voice quality as against other networks. 

5. Are you happy with the network coverage of Jio?

Only around 410 respondents were perfectly happy with Jio’s coverage while 420 people said the network was as good as other telecom operators.

6. What do you think is the key reason to use Jio?
Half the respondents were only on Jio because it was free while 27% found a difference in data speeds.

7. Have you interacted with Jio Customer service after obtaining the SIM card?

I have not had to reach out to Jio customer service: 37.5%
Jio customer service was very prompt and they helped quickly resolved my queries: 41.5%
Customer service was slow, but they solved my problems: 13.2%
Customer service was poor, did not solve my issues: 4.1%
Tried calling - nobody picked up my calls: 3.7%

Out of the total respondents majority seemed to be happy with customer care.

8. Have you noticed any change in Jio data speeds since you first obtained the SIM card?

No - my data speeds have been very consistent - and high: 28.9%
Yes – speeds on Jio were very high to begin with but have noticeably slowed: 39.8%
Yes – speeds have slowed, but the current speed is adequate for my needs: 16.3%
Yes - they had slowed for some time, but things seem to be improving now: 15%

Majority of the Jio respondents were of the opinion that Jio internet speeds were good initially but have slowed down.

9. What do you use your Jio connection for? (Select all that apply)

I use the free data to download and save videos: 74.8%
I use data to watch videos online (stream videos): 72.2%
I use Jio primarliy for the live TV feature: 46.7%
My data usage habits have not changed with Jio: 26.5%
Other: 5.4%

Nearly three out of every four customers surveyed said that they use to Jio only for the free data to download and save videos.

10. Have you started sharing your Jio number to your network of contacts?

Around 700 respondents have said that they shared their Jio numbers with their contacts.

11. Do you remember your own Jio phone number?

Over 200 respondents said that they do not even remember their Jio phone numbers.

12. Are you aware of Jio-Prime membership offer?

Nearly 100 respondents said that they were not aware of the latest Prime Membership offer announced on February 21 that offered one third more data than the regular Jio subscribers.

13. How did you hear of Jio-Prime membership? (If the answer to Q12 is Yes)

Nearly 60% respondents said they came to know about Prime Membership due to the media and advertisements.

14. Will you continue with Jio connection once the free offer ends? (If the answer to Q.12 is No; and after Q.12/13 for others)

Over 94% respondents cumulatively said that they would continue using Jio as either a primary or secondary SIM.

15. Will you subscribe to the Jio-Prime membership? (If yes to Q.12 and Q14 is Yes)
Yes: 95.7%
No, will choose from non-Jio Prime packages: 4.3%

16. If yes to Q. no. 15, which will be your choice of plan?

(Refer to chart 19 for plan preference among respondents) 

17. If No to Q12 and Yes to Q14 "OR" If No to Q15, which will be your choice of plan?

Nearly 70% of respondents who said they would subscribe to Jio post end of freebies said that they prefer the Rs303/month plan.