Many things have changed in India as far as the telecom market is concerned with the launch of Jio. With the honeymoon period getting over for existing Jio users this month, the company came up with another new offer in order to retain its subscribers.
Jio just recently announced Jio Prime membership, which enables users to retain the all-free service pace for Rs 303 per month, with data cap of 1GB per day. The Prime membership costs just ₹99 for a year.
Now, to counter this pricing, established telecom networks– Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea have come up with new packs and offers, including those who are on a postpaid connection.
Vodafone has announced a Rs 346 plan, which surpasses Jio’s new offer in a few areas. First of all, you don’t need to get any Prime-like subscription. But, as with Jio, this plan also limited daily 4G usage to 1GB. While Jio offers unlimited data with FUP of 1GB, after which, the speed decreases to 128kbps, Vodafone’s pack offers just 1GB of data.
Further, the said pack also includes free unlimited calling and SMS to any network, along with free domestic roaming. On top of that, the plan also gives users double the data (56GB) for double validity (56 days) for one month when they subscribe to Rs 346 plan. The Offer is available only till March 15.
Airtel has come up with Rs 349 plan, with some specific terms and conditions. The plan is available only to the prepaid users, with total 28GB data for 28 days – with FUP of 1GB per day. However, 1GB FUP per day is further divided into two — 500 MB of the 1GB data can be used only from 3am to 5am. For the rest of the day, users get only 500 MB. The users also get free unlimited domestic calls, no roaming charges and unlimited messages.
Idea has also joined Vodafone and Airtel, and has now come up with a new plan to counter. Although, its plan looks weakest of all. The telco is offering 14GB data at a recharge of Rs 345, along with unlimited calls and messages. Given the amount of data offered is less, its daily FUP is also less. It offers 500MB per day of data to subscribers of this plan.
Thanks to Jio’s free voice and data offers, India’s leading network providers — Airtel, Vodafone and Idea reported a sharp sequential fall in their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in the third quarter. Airtel’s AGR in the quarter ended December was down 8% sequentially to Rs 11,500 crore, while Vodafone India and Idea’s fell by 5.1% and 4.9% to Rs 8,300 crore and Rs 7,000 crore, respectively. The industry AGR in the quarter plunged 7.3% sequentially.
