Telecom operators are coming up with competitive BlackBerry data plans to woo customers. Couple of days back, some of the operators launched a Blackberry plan for its customers at Rs 129 monthly-plan with limited browsing of up to 1 GB and video streaming at 10p/10kb.
Airtel already has a blackberry plan at Rs 399 for its customers, offering unlimited internet browsing and free video access up to 300MB.
If we look at the browsing habits of users, they tend to see videos on their mobile phones through social media networks (Facebook or Youtube). Any video streaming involves heavy data transfer leading to an additional cost and a huge bill shock. For instance if a user happens to access three videos in a day, each video constituting of 5 MB each, this is what a user will be shelling out:
The plans (Rs 129) offered by other operators with only 1GB of internet browsing will limit the user and does not offer any free video streaming facility. This may not be a lucrative option for heavy data users. In that context Airtel 399 plan, with unlimited internet browsing and free 300MB to access videos, is more of a value proposition.
Similarly, the cost of browsing videos on other operators’ network is 10p/10KB, which is higher in comparison with Airtel’s 3p/10KB. Hence the overall 129 plan is not a value proposition for customers as compared to 399 plan by Airtel.
You can compare the plans yourself! Drop in your comments.