Bharti Airtel offers 4GB for just Rs 5 for 7 days as race with Jio intensifies
Mumbai: It seems Bharti Airtel has realised the value of cheaper data and voice call packs, which hold significance in the race against Reliance Jio -- the disruptor-in-chief of India's telecom market. India's largest telecom operator in terms of subscriber base has unveiled a number of new, dirt cheap data and voice call plans for its prepaid customers.
Airtel's says its Rs 5 plan will offer 4GB data for 4G handset users for seven days. The scheme will be only for 4G SIM users or for those who upgrade their SIMs, according to a report in The Indian Express. The Rs 5 plan will be only a one-time scheme and might not be available for all Airtel pre-paid customers.
The company, which has been at loggerheads with Reliance Jio, has a Rs 8 plan under which users can make local and STD calls at 30 paise per minute without any condition. This plan is valid for a period of 54 days. Under Rs 15 plan, an Airtel user can make a call to home network at 10 paise per minute with no extra charge or riders.
Besides, there's a Rs 30 recharge for a special talk-time of Rs 27 whose validity is unlimited. The Rs 37 recharge is valid for seven days along with three local Airtel SMS included for one day, the IE report said. For knowing the details and all the plans, Airtel users can either log on to the Airtel website or can download MyAirtel app from Google Play Store.
Bharti Airtel along with other incumbent telecom operators have disputed free data and voice call services that the new entrant Reliance Jio offered during its 180 days free window after it launched its own 4G services in September last year. Incumbents blame Jio for their dwindling revenues and profits.
As a counter attack, Jio says the business model adopted by these companies was the reason for loss of revenue and lower profits for these companies. Jio has garnered more than 125 million customers since its launch last year. And, it claims, the number is rising rapidly. Jio has said it will launch in market India's first cheapest feature phone bundled with all the 4G services in first week of September.
