JioFiber: Ambani bets on free TVs as he takes on Netflix, Amazon, telcos

Three years after elbowing into the Indian wireless phone market with free calls and data, billionaire Mukesh Ambani is back at it.

This time, Asia’s richest man is handing out TVs to hook users on movies and entertainment shows via internet. The tycoon is wedging into a business teeming with players from rival mobile carriers to Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

Ambani’s JioFiber broadband service, scheduled to start Thursday across India, comes with a high-definition television and set-top boxes at no charge for annual lifetime subscribers. The offer by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the tycoon’s wireless powerhouse, includes subscriptions to most premium streaming services with prices starting from Rs 700 (about $10) a month.