Thanks to Reliance Jio, data wars in India just won’t stop. Since the entry of Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom sector last year, data rates have come down significantly in the country. There was a time when we used to pay around ₹250-300 for 1 GB of 3G data for 28 days. And now, we are offered 1 GB 4G data per day at a similar price along with free voice calls. Like other telcos, Airtel too has launched various plans to counter Jio, and now, this incumbent has come up with a new plan that competes with Jio’s ₹149 plan.
Airtel has announced its ₹199 plan for its prepaid customers. Under this plan, the customers are offered 1 GB 2G/3G/4G data with unlimited local and STD voice calls for 28 days. However, those free voice calls aren’t exactly unlimited as like some other Airtel plans, this one too would be having a maximum free call limit of 300 minutes for a day and 1200 minutes for a week.
This plan competes directly with Jio’s ₹149 prepaid plan which actually is better than Airtel’s. For ₹149, Jio prepaid customers are offered 2 GB data at 4G speed. After those 2 GB are consumed, you would still be able to continue using Internet at a very low speed of 64 Kbps. So technically, you are offered unlimited Internet, even if at a lower speed. Moreover, you are also offered unlimited local and STD voice calls and 300 free SMS. The validity is 28 days.
Well, if the data on offer with Airtel’s ₹199 plan isn’t enough, you can go for Airtel’s ₹399 plan which was announced back in April. Under this plan, customers are offered 1 GB data per day with unlimited local and STD voice calls for 70 days. This translates to a total of 70 GB data.
On the other hand, for ₹399, Reliance Jio offers unlimited Internet (FUP of 1 GB 4G data per day) with unlimited local and STD voice calls and SMS for 84 days.
So, who do you think offers better value for your money? Airtel or Reliance Jio?
