Airtel doubles data offerings, slashes rates as it ups ante against Reliance Jio
12 Jun 2018
The country’s leading mobile phone networks, Bharti Airtel and Vodaphone, have boosted their subscription plans by offering up to 2GB of 3G/4G data as they struggle to cope with Reliance Jio’s onslaught.
Last week, market leader Bharti Airtel added 2 GB of daily data to its Rs149 prepaid plan, twice the amount it offered earlier, to boost its subscriber base.
While the telecom majors managed to hold on to their market leadership helped by the exit of smaller operators like Aircel, Tata Teleservices and Telenor India, the incumbent operators are finding it increasingly difficult to add numbers with Reliance Jio posing a big challenge.
Bharti Airtel’s Rs149 prepaid plan, which now offers data at Rs2.66 per GB, also offers free voice calls and 100 SMSes per day, bettering the industry standard.
In comparison, Jio’s Rs 149 plan, also valid for 28 days, offers 1.5 GB of 4G data per day or Rs3.55 per GB.
Vodafone India too has a Rs149 prepaid plan offering the same benefits as Jio. Bharti has also launched a Rs558 prepaid plan in various circles offering 3 GB per day for 82 days or data at Rs2.27 per GB. On the other hand, Vodafone India has a Rs511 pack that offers 2 GB daily data for 84 days, or Rs3.04 per GB.
Airtel Rs569 plan offers 3 GB of daily data at a price of Rs2.26 per GB, the same as Bharti. This makes both Bharti and Vodafone’s new offerings better than Jio’s Rs299 pack (for 28 days) that offers 3GB per day at a rate of Rs3.56 per GB.
It is now up to Jio to show the next level of competition. Any further increase in rate competition would result in a further fall in revenues and render the telecom companies bankrupt.