Reliance Jio's new Rs 199 a month plan to hit other players' ARPU

Due to the ongoing rate war, average revenue per user for the postpaid segment had dropped around 25 per cent; the one for prepaid users had dropped 50 per cent

The announcement of a Rs 199 postpaid plan by Reliance Jio will further stretch the process of financial recovery in the telecom sector, as other operators will be forced to do likewise.

Till now, Jio was primarily targeting the prepaid customer base, with only a few postpaid plans. Now, it is targeting postpaid customers, who usually spend over five times their prepaid counterparts and are more company-loyal. The average monthly spending of postpaid customers was Rs 378 in 2017; prepaid users spent around Rs 67. Postpaid users were five to seven per cent of the top three older operators’ subscribers but