Bharti Airtel has been aggressive in the last few weeks, and the same will continue going forward. The telco, which currently has over 290 million subscribers in the country is looking to retain its subscriber base. According to sources close to us, the telco will introduce a new yearly prepaid tariff plan in the coming days, and the plan will be priced aggressively below Rs 1000. Also, the tariff plan will provide all the three benefits- voice calls, data and SMS. However, the highlight of the plan will be the validity of one year.
Under the yet-to-be-announced tariff plan, Airtel will offer unlimited voice calls including roaming calls, 100 SMS per day which converts to 36,500 SMS during the validity period and lastly, it will also offer 1GB data per month. Clearly, this plan is not meant for data-heavy users, and as per our sources, the plan is meant for users who consume a lot of voice calls.
However, here comes the primary part. Remember the Airtel's Rs 193 data add-on pack which we reported last month? That comes into play here. The Airtel's Rs 193 prepaid data add-on pack is designed to offer 1GB data per day on top of the existing unlimited combo plan. So, after recharging with the upcoming yearly plan, users may recharge with the Rs 193 data add-on pack to enjoy data benefit too. And with that, users can enjoy unlimited benefits for one year under Rs 1,500, which is attractive and luring.
Nevertheless, we're expecting the upcoming yearly plan to launch as a segmented one, meaning it will be valid only for select Airtel prepaid users in the network.
In December 2017, Airtel managed to add less than five lakh new subscribers which is underwhelming by the company' standards. However, the telco is not looking to give up anytime soon and will be up for the fight at any point of time.
Notably, Airtel already offering a couple of long-validity prepaid plans of Rs 999, Rs 1,999 and Rs 3,999. The premium Rs 3,999 is an open market plan offering benefits of unlimited calls, 100 SMS per day and 300GB data for 365 days, while the Rs 999 plan gives unlimited calls, 100 SMS per day and 60GB data for three months.
But the upcoming yearly tariff plan will surely be a game changer for the telecom operator as it will be affordable and provides benefits with longer validity.
