Telcos offer more data for same price in race to get new customers
If you are planning to take a new data connection, then this would be the right time as all telecom service providers such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are offering huge discounts on data as the industry is engulfed in a data price war.
Although companies deny the fact that there is a price discount, all of them are offering more data for the same price which works out in your favour.
The data price war started from September 2016 when Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani commercially launched Reliance Jio Infocomm’s service that is currently providing free calls and data till the end of this year.
The country last saw a price war in 2009-2010 after new licenses were given to new telecom service providers in 2008.
However, with the launch of Jio’s promotional data offers, operators like Airtel and Vodafone have been forced to offer similar plans and also offer more data for its prepaid consumers.
On Wednesday, Airtel put out another promotional offer for prepaid customers under which the company was offering 10 GB of data for ₹259. This essentially means that a customer will get 1GB of data without day or night usage differential just for ₹25.90.
However, this offer is only available to new customers who who buy a new 4G handset.
It had previously slashed its internet prepaid tarrifs to 80% and over 150% for its corporate customers, bringing down the former to as low as ₹51/GB and latter to ₹99.5/GB.
With its current offering, consumers can spend ₹1,498 for 1GB 3G/4G data and post exhaustion, customers can enjoy 1GB 3G/4G for just ₹51. For a year long period, you get 12 GB 3G/4G of data at ₹2110 for 12 months (13 packs of 1 GB each), if you are a Airtel customer. (Validity for 1st GB data is 28 days).
Meanwhile, Vodafone is giving 1GB data (3G/4G) for ₹297 with validity for 28 days. This sums up to ₹3,861 for 13 GB of data for 12 months.
Airtel is also offering a free 9GB 4G data for new 4G handset consumers. Once a consumer recharges with ₹249, he gets 1 GB 4G data and later the company adds 9 GB to it via its My Airtel app.
Vodafone, which recently launched Flex plans — an easy way of recharging for prepaid consumers for voice, data and rate cutters, also has a similar 10 GB offer.
BSNL is also not holding back and is providing 1GB (3G data) at ₹198. This means that you will need to spend at around ₹2574 for 13 GB for a year (3G data rates) .
Aditya Birla group-owned Idea is also providing 1GB (3G) at ₹ 249 for 28 days. This means that the consumer will end up spending ₹3,237 for 13 GB for a year.
However, telcos and experts claim that all these moves have two objectives in mind.
“While one is a short-term game to protect consumers and compete with other telcos, the longer game plan is to expand the data market which is very small right now,” a top executive from a telco, told HT adding that the company had added more subscribers after the new data offers were launched.
Analysts believe that the erosion in prices will definitely hurt pocketsoft el cos but they will make it up when they reach volumes.
“There is no reason to believe that data market in India will not expand. It is considerably smaller than most countries and we are just seeing the beginning of this market ,” a top telecom expert said.
Airtel has the maximum number of subscribers followed by Vodafone and Idea.