Reliance JIO is the absolute Game-changer of the Indian telecom network, and since its entry, there is no denial in saying that any other network is successful in winning the bait against this mighty firm. Now, that the time has changed, another mobile network company has entered the game beating the JIO’s breakthrough offer of unlimited 4G data absolutely free for the first three months.
After the complimentary offer, JIO, however, changed its style by offering unlimited data at hard-to-beat prices, forcing other telcos to follow suit. And now, a Bengaluru startup is trying to bring the prices further down with its novel little “Dabba”.
Talking about the ongoing prices, Shubhendu Sharma, the Wifi Dabba co-founder has said, “Data cost in India is very high at present. We believe that even after the launch of Jio there is a lot of room for price wars to happen and we are certain that we can drop the prices even further.”
As of now, this firm generally called as “Wifi Dabba” is merely 13-months old but is already selling data for unheard of prices – 100MB for just Rs 2, and if that doesn’t sound good enough, there’s also 500MB for Rs 10 and 1GB for Rs 20 – with a uniform validity of 24 hours.
On the other hand, Jio provides 150MB at Rs 19 and 1GB at Rs 52 for its pre-paid customers. Wifi Dabba aims to provide “super cheap” data at “superfast” speeds to people who have only a minimum of Rs 2 to spare. However, users have the option to choose their own data limit and validity according to their requirement and can choose to pay for it online on its website.
Where and how to avail these packages?
These offers are provided in the form of pre-paid tokens sold by small shops like tea stalls and local bakeries in Bengaluru. Just like how you would request WiFi passwords at McDonald’s, only here you request for tokens. “We do not ask our users to download an app. They just need to punch in their mobile numbers, fill in the OTP for verification, punch in the key and connect to the internet,” says Sharma.
How to get hands-on Dabba?
With the licensed ISP, it provides this data through small routers – or as the company likes to call it “Dabba” – powered by fiber optics installed in these shops. Using fiber optics instead of airwaves provides for a more reliable connection as compared to cellular towers.
To get these wifi Dabbas installed, the company partners with local cable operators who lay down the optic fiber cables and it takes about 6 -7 days to create a new connection. However, the startup is working on getting this period down to 3-4 days.
“Instead of installing big towers like big telecom companies do, we are going to put lakhs of these small wifi Dabbas across the city to develop a huge network which would cover the entire city of Bangalore, we spend Rs 4000 to roll out one Dabba and 20 of these Dabbas can achieve what one tower of big companies can, at a fraction of the cost,” claims Sharma.
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In comparison, it takes telecom companies anywhere between Rs 1-2 crore to set up a cellular tower. On a brief note, the company claims to provide a speed of 50 Mbps in a 100-200 meters radius. As of now, over 350 of these routers were installed across Bengaluru and has received over 1800 connection requests.