Reliance Jio has been in the markets for a year now. In a very short span of time, the company has churned the pot and has brought around a major panic in the telecommunications market. Many major brands are either merging their services or shutting down. The latest victim of the Jio revolution is Tata Docomo.
Tata Docomo, which debuted in India in November 2008 was once known for it’s dirt cheap internet and calling. It made access to 3G internet cheaper than ever before, thanks to their erratic pricing. Tata Docomo was a venture between Tata Sons, one of India’s most trusted and popular business houses and NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese mobile operator.
However, over the years the market response to Tata Docomo slowed down and in 2014, NTT DOCOMO sold their stake to Tata Sons and left the business. Reportedly NTT DOCOMO made a loss of $1.3 Billion in this venture. However earlier this year Tata Sons paid $1.18 Billion to NTT.
After the arrival of Reliance Jio, an already unpopular Tata Docomo got another major jolt. Mobile operators in India began to step up or step out. Reliance Communications and Aircel announced a merger and so did Vodafone and Idea. Brands like Airtel, which were once the market leaders decided to hold their own and are likely to bounce back once the Jio craze subsides.
However, this left Tata Docomo reeling and completely out of the picture. Reports are now indicating that Tata Docomo has begun the process of shutting down and will be out of the markets over the next few weeks, most probably before the end of the year. The report comes via Sanjay Bafna who is a known insider when it comes to the Indian telecom industry and has had many accurate reports in the past. Stay tuned with us for more on this.
