Telcos rush to gain data market share ahead of Jio launch

Major telecom operators have recently announced more affordable mobile internet plans, in a bid to retain market share ahead of Reliance Jio's launch at the end of this year.

Their worry is that the telecom business of Reliance Industries might sweep the data market share, much as it did in 2003 with the mobile market by announcing cheaper rates.

Airtel, which announced roll out of fourth-generation (4G) services across the country on August 6, said it would offer 4G data plans at the 3G rate, beside offering unlimited voice calls for Rs 999 a month. Vodafone, the second largest operator in subscriber base, announced a scheme to enable users to avail double the data at the existing rates, on the day after the Airtel announcement.

DATA OFFERS BY TELCOS SO FAR

• Airtel offering 4G data at 3G data prices
• Vodafone to offer double the data at existing rates
• RCom to offer pre-paid with unlimited 2G data
• Idea post-paid users can carry forward data
• Tata Docomo users can choose plan on usage pattern
• Aircel to offer 4G data at selected circles for Rs 999 per 10GB

MTS and Reliance Communication are also offering unlimited call and data-specific plans at affordable rates. Tata Docomo said it would offer its pre-paid customers the flexibility to choose a plan on the basis of the data and talktime usage pattern for a sum of Rs 201.

"Evidently, the tariff (rate) plans of all operators are getting data-focused. Voice is still a major revenue source for all telecom operators but data revenue has witnessed tremendous growth in the past few quarters. It will be all a data game in future," said Rishi Tejpal, analyst for communication service providers at Gartner. Income from internet operations is 16-19 per cent of the total income of major telecom companies; it could contribute about a quarter in the years to come. Over the past year, revenue from data operations has seen a jump of a little more than 50 per cent, on more smartphone penetration and larger 3G subscribers, telecom operators said in their first quarter financial results.

Despite significant growth in mobile data traffic and revenue, operators also said overall data users out of their total consumer base are still small. Which is why they have come up with cheaper plans to attract consumers who carry a smartphone but are reluctant to use the internet over mobile devices. The recent announcement of new data plans do not signal a data price war yet, said some experts, as the game will change only after the Jio launch.

"Airtel and Vodafone are competing with each other to retain internet market share, since they are number one and two in the market and that is why we saw these announcements. The real data price war would begin with the launch of Jio," said an analyst with a global investment banking entity.