It May Not Rain Much This Monsoon, But Telcos Are Already Showering Recharge Packs

With monsoon gaining pace in India, telecom operators are showering one plan after the other to lure customers. BSNL has just launched the Rs. 666 Sixer prepaid plan which offers 2GB 3G data per day and unlimited voice calling plus free roaming with a validity of 60 days. Airtel has just brought the Rs. 899 plan. This plan offers 2GB 4G data per day with unlimited calling and has a validity of 70 days. With Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer coming to an end in few days, Airtel may get few new subscribers to its kitty this monsoon owing to its new plan.

Airtel subscribers can check on the My Airtel app for the eligibility of the Rs. 899 plan on their number. BSNL is coming up with new plans every fortnight. Although the Rs. 666 is a good plan, BSNL may not be able to entice new subscribers owing to its poor network. Reliance Jio is also trying very hard to get to the top and has recently launched Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) submarine cable system, bringing up to 40 Terabits of new capacity to the region. The cable will serve increasing demand for video-centric data bandwidth.

To lessen the financial stress on telecom operators, telecom department has recently allowed telcos to deploy their switching equipment anywhere in the country instead of restricting them to circles earlier, through an amendment to the unified license (UL).

This industry-friendly move will allow the incumbent telcos to lower down their CapEx. We are hopeful that this benefit will be passed on to subscribers too by the telecom operators by offering better plans. Jio and Airtel both have good network coverage and can compete with each other. The telecom operator which provides better user experience will win in the long run.