Recently, we reported that Bharti Airtel silently slashed the price of the Airtel 4G Hotspot device to compete with Reliance JioFi. Back then, we thought that the price cut is a temporary one. However, Airtel has now sent out a press statement saying that the Airtel 4G Hotspot will now retail for just Rs 999, and the price cut is a permanent one.
In comparison, Reliance Industries-owned Reliance Jio slashed the price of the JioFi M2S router in September 2017 to Rs 999 as a festive offer. But the price of the Reliance JioFi M2S is still the same at Rs 999, and this price drop from Airtel will give a stiff competition to Jio in the data card segment.
Currently, Reliance Industries is the leading brand in the data card segment, thanks to the strong sales of JioFi hotspot devices in the second quarter of 2017. Nevertheless, the company reported a huge sales dip in the third quarter of 2017.
Airtel 4G Hotspot is available at all leading Airtel retail stores across the country. In addition, customers will soon be able to order the Airtel 4G Hotspot from Amazon India. Currently, there are some third-party sellers who're offering the Airtel 4G Hotspot.
Customers can create a Wi-Fi hotspot zone wherever they go with the Airtel 4G Hotspot. It allows users to connect up to 10 devices at the same time, and the operator has collaborated with Chinese vendor Huawei to manufacture the Airtel 4G Hotspot.
The Airtel 4G Hotspot has a 1500mAh battery inside, which is rated to deliver more than six hours of battery life.
Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Airtel said, “At Airtel, we endeavour to deliver great value to our customers backed by a superior network experience. Airtel 4G Hotspot delivers a superior multi-device online experience, wherever the customer may be, by leveraging Airtel’s pan-India high-speed data network. What’s more, it now comes at a great price with some very affordable plans that offer large bundles of data.”
Airtel says that the customers need to get an Airtel 4G SIM to activate services on their Airtel 4G Hotspot. The plans start at Rs 499 per month and go up to Rs 12000 for a yearly pack. As said earlier, Airtel has 4G coverage in all the 22 telecom circles in the country.
Another best part of the Airtel 4G Hotspot is that it will switch to the 3G network automatically if there's no 4G network availability in a particular area.