Telcos heed Trai's call, launch voice & SMS-only plans

Telecom operators have launched voice and SMS-only tariff packs as per a directive by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), but experts said they will not benefit consumers much, coming just about 2% less expensive than earlier data-bundled plans of similar duration.

Reliance Jio and Airtel have also tweaked or removed a few starting-level bundled packs, so that people using low data may have to cough up 7-12% more, analysts said.

Overall, there could be slight improvement in average revenue per user (Arpu) for telcos as voice-only packs will be few takers and some bundled offerings have become more expensive, they said.


“Given the proliferation of data, we don’t expect large take up of voice-only packs but the bundled data packs, which have become somewhat expensive, could lead to slight uptake on Arpu,” Rohan Dhamija, head (India & Middle East) at consultancy Analysys Mason, told ET.

Out of the 200 million-odd 2G users in the country, a majority are likely to opt for bundled packs with only a small faction taking the voice-only packs, analysts said.

Airtel and Jio have launched two no-data plans with similar validity—one for 365 days and the other for 84 days. Both offer unlimited calls and 3,600 SMS for the annual plan with similar pricing—Rs 1,959 by Airtel and Rs 1,958 by Jio.

However, Jio’s has priced its 84-day plan more competitively at Rs 458 for unlimited calls and 1,000 SMS against Airtel’s Rs 499 for unlimited calls and 900 SMS.

Before the launch of voice and SMS-only plans, Airtel used to offer a Rs 1,999 plan with unlimited voice calls for 365 days along with 24 GB data. It has withdrawn it and introduced a new plan at Rs 2,249, offering 30 GB data and unlimited voice with a validity of 365 days.

Airtel also discontinued a Rs 509 plan with a validity of 84 days, offering 6 GB of data and unlimited calls, and introduced a Rs 548 plan that offers 7 GB of data and unlimited calls for 84 days.

Similarly, Jio has discontinued a Rs 1,899 plan, which used to offer 24 GB of data along with unlimited voice for 336 days, and a Rs 479 plan, which offered 6 GB data and unlimited voice for 84 days.

Vodafone Idea, though, has continued with the same set of earlier packs while launching a new voice and SMS-only pack for Rs 1,460, which offers unlimited calls and 100 SMS with 270 days’ validity.

The launch of voice-only plans follows a December 23 directive by Trai, asking telcos to roll out such tariff packs within 30 days.

The regulator felt that mandating voice and SMS-only packs would provide an option to subscribers who do not require data. “This in any way will not reverse the government initiative of data inclusion as service providers are at liberty to offer bundled offers and data-only vouchers,” Trai said.

Jio’s voice-only plans come with Jio TV, Jio Cinema and Jio Cloud subscription but no data, so consumers can only access these services over a wi-fi network.