5G Data
The price war between the country’s two leading telecom companies will continue as they do everything they can to win over subscribers.
By Jatin Grover
In a sign of tough competition in the telecom market, Bharti Airtel on Friday allowed all its postpaid customers and those with prepaid plans of Rs 239 or more to get unlimited 5G data. On Wednesday, Reliance Jio has launched a prepaid plan for individuals and families that costs 30% less than its peers.
The price war between the country’s two leading telecom companies will continue as they do everything they can to win over subscribers. Bharti Airtel, industry officials said, is working to prevent its subscribers from switching to Reliance Jio, which has offered unlimited 5G data and 4G upgrade plans since the launch of 5G. Bharti Airtel has more than 10 million 5G subscribers on its network in 270 cities.
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Analysts also see Airtel’s plan as a strategy to familiarize its users with 5G before introducing tariffs. As of now, Airtel customers can use 5G within their daily or monthly data limit on their 4G plans. In January, Reliance Jio lowered the barriers to entry for customers of 5G services by upgrading its 4G data plan from Rs 61 to 5G, offering users with plans below Rs 239 to get a 5G subscription offer.
Jio’s new prepaid plan will start on March 22 and aims to move users from prepaid to postpaid to boost its average revenue per user (arpu). Analysts point out that mobile operators are gearing up for IPL. They said it is important for Airtel to stay ahead of the competition as JioCinema offers free streaming services on its app for customers regardless of the service they subscribe to. “We can see a sequential increase of 15% in data consumption in the June quarter, which is mainly driven by IPL,” said an analyst.
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