Last year Indian carrier Reliance Jio (in partnership with Google) unveiled the JioPhone Next – a super affordable 4G smartphone, which could be had for as little as ₹2,000 ($27 at the time) with a monthly plan starting at ₹300 (and a ₹501 processing fee). Buying the phone outright cost ₹6,500 ($87 back then).
The goal of this device was to move millions and millions of Jio subscribers off their outdated 2G and 3G phones and onto the carrier’s 4G network. According to the analysts at Counterpoint, the company will build a 5G follow-up to get people to upgrade to Jio’s new 5G network once…
