Postpaid punches: How Jio's Rs 199 p/m plan takes on Airtel, Vodafone, Idea

Reliance Jio has launched a postpaid plan at Rs 199 offering 25 GB of internet data along with unlimited voice calls and SMS

Posing tough competition to rivals Bharti Airtel, Idea and Vodafone, telecom service provider Reliance Jio has launched a postpaid plan at Rs 199 offering 25 gigabytes (GB) of internet data along with unlimited voice calls and SMS facility.   

The Rs 199 postpaid plan also offers international roaming rates of Rs 2 per minute for voice, Rs 2 per megabyte (MB) for data and Rs 2 per SMS. It also offers Rs 500 a day roaming pack with unlimited voice, data and SMS. The subscription will start from May 15.

Global investment banking firm Jefferies, according to IANS, said that this could put its telecom rivals such Airtel and Vodafone at a tough spot as the plan offered by emerging telecom player Jio is offering customers 50 per cent discount compared to the packs offered by incumbents. 

The report further said postpaid churn is lower and it is believed that shift to Jio will be gradual. "Around 40 per cent of the postpaid customers are corporate, and these would be a key target, in our view."

Here are the starting range of postpaid packs offered by Reliance Jio, Idea, Vodafone and Airtel:

Details of Reliance Jio’s 199 per month postpaid plan

Pros

> Get 25 GB data per month at Rs 199 

> Get free local and STD calls 

> National roaming calls will be free of cost

> ISD calling will be pre-activated. This means customers won’t have to pay any deposit for making ISD calls. 

> Free access to Reliance Jio services, including Jio Music, Jio TV and Jio Movies

Cons
Unlike Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, left-over data balance cannot be carried forward next month 

The all-new JioPostpaid will be available for subscription starting 15th May, 2018. JioPostpaid marks a paradigm-shift in the way postpaid services are offered and consumed, just like Jio did with its prepaid services, Reliance Jio Infocomm (“Jio”), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries said in a press release.

Details of Airtel’s 399 per month postpaid plan

Pros
> Get 20 GB of data at Rs 399 per month

> Get free local and STD calls 

> No additional charge while roaming within the country 

> Get 100 messages per day 

> Free access to Airtel services like Airtel TV and Wynk music application . 

> Remaining data balance can be carried forward to the billing cycle of next month until it reaches 200 GB.

Cons 

Jio’s plan is Rs 200 cheaper than Airtel’s one 

Details of Vodafone’s Rs 399 plan 

Pros

> Get 20 GB data per month at Rs 399 Vodafone postpaid plan

> Get free local and STD calls 

> No additional charges for national roaming 

> Data can be rolled over with a cap of 200 GB maximum data per plan 

> Free access to Vodafone Play app for streaming videos 

Cons 

> No free messages pack 

> Unlike higher-end Vodafone plans, customers are not entitled to free Netflix subscription 

> Again, with almost the same benefits, this is Rs 200 more expensive than Jio’s offer 

Details of Idea’s 389 per month postpaid plan

>Get 20 GB data per month with Rs 389 Idea postpaid plan

> Get 100 free SMS per day 

> Free local and STD calls 

> Get free roaming calls 

> Access to Idea Digital suite along with gaming, music and movie streaming  for 12 month

> Data can be rolled over but just as Airtel and Vodafone, this is capped at 200 GB. 

Cons 

This is an impressive deal but the cost is Rs 190 cheaper than Reliance Jio's Rs 199 plan

“Airtel’s plan that can be matched with Jio starts at Rs 399, which offers 20 GB of data, unlimited calling and free subscriptions to Airtel TV and Wynk music. Vodafone’s plan, too, starts at Rs 399, which gives 20 GB of data and unlimited calling along with Vodafone Play services. Idea Cellular offers similar benefits for Rs 389. In case, the other telcos follow Jio, postpaid average revenue per user will come down,” the Business Standard report suggested. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT.