Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio commenced its operations in India, it has all but taken the country by storm. The company's free unlimited 4G data offer caught rival telcos off-guard, who have been trying to keep consumers from jumping ship.Now, if a new report is to be believed, it appears that Vodafone India, the country's second largest telecom operator may go for a drastic step to counter the onslaught of Reliance Jio.Per a report by British newspaper The Telegraph, Vodafone India is eyeing a potential merger with one of India's top telecom companies to take on the competition from Jio.It's not clear as to which of the rival telcos Vodafone India is looking to join hands with, but the report claims that the company could merge with Idea or even Jio itself."Vodafone is now understood to be looking at the possibility of a tie-up with either Jio, or Idea, another of the top four providers. Jio and Idea could themselves combine, however," the report claimed.Reliance Jio's aggressive tariff plans, as well as its 'Welcome' and 'Happy New Year' offers have propelled it to widespread popularity in India's highly-competitive telecom market. The company is currently offering unlimited 4G data, VoLTE services and a whole suite of Jio apps to all its consumers completely free, until March 31, 2017.Interestingly, it was recently reported that over 85% of the current Reliance Jio customers have expressed interest to retain connections even after its free 4G service offer expires on March 31, 2017, as per a sample study conducted by Bank of America - Merrill Lynch.BofA-ML commissioned Survey Monkey to conduct an online survey of over 1,000 respondentsacross the country with over 500 Jio users. The survey found that over 75% of respondents have directly or indirectly (or through a friend), used Jio services.
