'Data traffic to surge 5-fold by year-end'

Indus OS, which offers a regional language smartphone operating system said users are expected to consume over 1 GB data per month as data gets cheaper. "India's current mobile data usage is still one-third of the global average of 957 MB, which is set to change... With Jio's entry, India is now expected to break the 1 GB per month usage barrier very soon and be amongst the top 10 mobile data consumers in the world by 2020," Indus OS said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Reliance Jio said it will offer lifetime free voice calling and zero roaming charges to its customers. Also, as part of a 'welcome offer', Jio customers will get free data services till December 31, following which it will offer 10 tariff plans starting at Rs 19 a day for occasional users, Rs 149 a month for low data users and Rs 4,999 a month for heavy data users.

With data prices falling to ultra-low levels, the company estimates an immediate five-fold increase of data usage by the end of the year on devices running its operating system.

Indus OS is currently available on smartphones from brands like Micromax, Celkon and Swipe, totalling over 40 smartphone models.

Indus OS, which claims to be the second most used operating system in the country after Android, said its users consume about 956 MB of 3G data per month. This is 30 per cent more than the Indian average of 735 MB of 3G data, it said.

"With more than 90 per cent of the Indian population being non-English speaking, the arrival of Reliance Jio translates into a big opportunity for Indians to experience the power of the internet, and for Indus OS to further our reach," Indus OS co-founder and CEO Rakesh Deshmukh said.