Airtel sweetens deal for prepaid data subscribers

Company offering a slew of freebies, cash-back on data and data sharing plans

Bharti Airtel has decided to sweeten the deal for its prepaid data customers that constitute 94 per cent of its subscriber base. After offering free voice minutes to high-value 4G consumers, Airtel is now going after the not-so-creamy layer.

The company is offering a slew of freebies, cash-back on data and data-sharing plans. Data offers include Data Cashback, Family Data Share plans for prepaid customers, Smartphone Surprises (freebies for first-time smartphone users on Airtel network) and free music through its music streaming app, Wynk.

BOON FOR PREPAID CONSUMERS

• Bharti Airtel is offering a daily credit of 50% of data consumed between midnight and 6 am
• It is also offering free data, tablets and other benefits to prepaid consumers who migrate to a smartphone on the Airtel network
• The company would also allow even a prepaid mobile user to become the primary customer who can then add any four of his/her dear ones to 3G/4G data pack
• Airtel’s customers would now be able to download unlimited songs for free on Wynk Music

Srini Gopalan, director, consumer business, said: “Our offers are structured around the smartphone experience and we want to enhance it. Our conviction is that people who will drive Digital India are going to be those who solve the customer's frustrations and our offers seek to address some of them.”

For starters, the company is offering a daily credit of 50 per cent of data consumed between midnight and 6 am, to encourage more data usage late at night, when networks are less congested. Gopalan views this as a win-win for both consumers and the company. Bharti is also offering free data, tablets and other benefits to any prepaid consumer (new and existing) who migrates to a smartphone on the Airtel network. This a Smartphone Surprise offer.

Running out of talk time and exhausting of data limits can be big problems for prepaid consumers. Airtel’s Family Data Share plan would now allow a prepaid mobile user to also become a primary customer who can then add any four of his/her dear ones to a 3G/4G data pack. This would enable multiple people to consume data from one primary data pack.

In addition, Airtel’s customers would now be able to download unlimited songs for free on Wynk Music and enjoy five free movies on Wynk Movies.

While the consumer would have to pay data charges, the company is doing away with subscription fees (which ranges from Rs 20 to Rs 120) to avail of the music streaming service. The latest move by Airtel is being seen by analysts as a move to broad-base the data market and increase consumer loyalty.