The price and data war waged by Reliance Jio shows no signs of easing any time soon.
The price and data war that Reliance Jio waged with its entry on September 4 last year, shows no signs of easing. Recently, in a meeting with shareholders, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, that runs Reliance Jio, said it will finally start charging for its telecom services.
The announcement may have had telecom players heave a sign of relief but it was short lived as Ambani proceeded to announce the Prime membership offer to honour and thank its first 100 million customers. Under this, the first 100 million customers get a chance to avail special Reliance Jio's Prime Membership offer for one year a one-time membership fee of Rs 99.
Jio announced a Rs 303 offer which soon had all the other competitors - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular - announce their own versions of the plans to ensure Jio didn't grab a larger chunk of the market share.
While Vodafone announced a limited period Rs 346 offer, Airtel announced a Rs 345 plan and Idea Cellular a Rs 348 plan.
Here's what each of the plans offer:
Reliance Jio's Rs 303 offer:
⇒ This offer is only for Jio's Prime members. To become a Prime member, existing Reliance Jio customers will have to pay a one-time fee of Rs 99. New subscribers who get onboard before March 31, 2017, will also be able to secure Prime membership.
⇒ Apart from the one-time Rs 99 fee, you will have to sign up for the Rs 303 plan to get the 4G data plan.
⇒ With a recharge of Rs 303, Jio's Prime members will get 1GB 4G data per day. This means, 28GB data through the 28-day monthly cycle.
⇒ There is no cap on when you can use the 1GB data through the day, however, the unused data will not accrue and be carried forward to the next day.
⇒ The Rs 303 offer will also buy you unlimited free calls and SMSes. For non-Prime members, the Rs 303 recharge will only get you 2.5GB data for the monthly cycle.
Vodafone India's Rs 346 offer
⇒ A Rs 346 recharge will get you 1GB 3G or 4G data per day, which equates to 28GB data for 28 days similar to Reliance Jio.
⇒ The catch here is that you will only be able to avail these services for one year if you get the Rs 346 recharge before March 15, 2017.
In a statement from Vodafone, its spokesperson said, "Vodafone customers are diverse as are their wants. To satisfy these diverse needs and wants, Vodafone offers various segmented propositions. This is one such segmented offering and the offer is valid only till 15 March."
The recharge will also get you unlimited free calls.
Bharti Airtel's Rs 345 plan
Airtel, the current leader of the domestic telecom market in terms of subscribers - announced a Rs 345 plan to tackle competition posed by Jio.
⇒ This Rs 345 recharge will get you 28GB of data for 28 days but there is a caveat here. While the other service providers don't have a condition on when the 1GB data can be used in the day, Airtel has imposed a cap. This means, Airtel customers will be able to use only 500MB of the 1GB daily allowance between 6 am and midnight. The other 500 MB can be used between 12 am and 6 am only.
⇒ If you recharge with Rs 345 before March 31, the services will be available to you for a period of 12 months. This will also get you unlimited local and STD calls.
There is another plan for Rs 549 which will offer the same data without any usage cap.
Idea Cellular's Rs 348 pack
⇒ Idea Cellular announced a Rs 348 recharge pack that would get its customers 500MB data per day, taking the offer to 14GB data in the 28-day monthly cycle.
⇒ Unlike the Vodafone and Airtel offer, this offer like Reliance Jio's offer is only for select subscribers.
While Reliance Jio's special offer only extends to its Prime members, Idea's offer will only be available to those who are contacted by the telco.
These will generally be low data consumers to encourage them to use more data. However, according to a report by NDTV Gadgets360, "in order to check for your eligibility, you can download the 'My Idea' app from the Google Play store on Android and App Store on iOS." You can also contact the Idea Cellular customer care to find out.
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