After Jio's revision of its prepaid and postpaid tariffs, incumbent operators have been launching new plans to lure customers their way. After Vodafone and Airtel, Idea Cellular has released a new plan with 1GB daily data allocation and unlimited calls at Rs. 357. This plan competes with Jio’s Rs. 399 plan, though the validity is less than half of what Mukesh Ambani-promoted operator provides. There is also an Idea Cellular plan with 70-day validity and the same benefits in Delhi-NCR circle.
The Idea Rs. 357 prepaid recharge pack comes with 28-day validity and offers 1GB 3G/ 4G data per day and unlimited calls. Apart from this, customers also get 100 SMSes with the pack. In contrast, Jio offers 70-day validity, 1GB data daily, unlimited calls, free roaming and SMSes, and access to Jio apps with its Rs. 399 plan.
Apart from this, there’s an Idea plan with 1GB data per day and unlimited calls for 70 days, priced at Rs. 498 in Delhi-NCR circle. Rival Jio offers a Rs. 459 plan with 1GB daily data allocation and other freebies for 84 days.
This is the latest salvo from Idea in the continuing war against Reliance Jio. Earlier this year, Idea and Vodafone announced a merger that will make the combined entity the largest telecom operator in the country, pushing the current market leader Airtel to second position. Jio started operations last year in September with free services, but has steadily been raising prices for its plans, or cutting benefits, such as the curtailed validity for postpaid users and slashing the post-FUP speed by half.
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