Reliance Jio gives more data at same price to take on Airtel's offers

MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) has revised its tariff plans for the second time in two weeks, offering more data at the same price points, saying it was bettering bitter rival Bharti Airtel’s recent offers, underlining the continuing tariff war which will hurt average revenue per user further.

The Mukesh Ambani-led telco, with some 160 million users, on Tuesday said customers who were getting 1GB a day for Rs 149, Rs 349, Rs 399 and Rs 449 plans will now get 1.5 GB every day with validity of 28 days, 70 days, 84 days and 91days, respectively.

Subscribers will get 2GB a day instead of 1.5GB per day if they opt for plans priced at Rs 198, Rs 398, Rs 448 and Rs 498 with a validity of 28 days, 70 days, 84 days and 91days, respectively.


“These plans have been launched as a response to Airtel’s tariff changes,” a company executive said. The new offers are effective January 26.

Under a recently revised plan, Airtel's subscribers will get 1.4 GB data per day if they recharge for Rs 199, Rs 448 and Rs 509. Those who recharge for Rs 349 will get 2.5GB data a day, as compared to 2GB earlier. Prices may vary according to circles, Airtel said.

“Jio is playing a capacity game because if incumbents have to catch up, then they need to provide more data, which is difficult because they are yet to convert to VoLTE services,” said a senior telecom analyst who did not want to be named.

Analysts say the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology is allowing the new entrant more flexibility, as it allows more efficient use of the same spectrum.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in a report that given Jio’s lower costs, it would always want its pricing to be 15-20% lower than that of its rivals. “Competitor response will determine future pricing,” BoFA-ML added.

While Jio’s network is built on VoLTE, Airtel has just rolled out the technology for its users, and is expanding it across India.

Vodafone has also just launched the service in Gujarat while Idea is testing it out. The analyst quoted above added that that the new plans could hit the ARPU of the players by 20-30%.