Fortunately or unfortunately though being fierce, the competition is not on par in the telecom industry on certain parameters, but a consumer has all reasons to rejoice. Be it quality or affordability, any consumer now has now multiple options to choose. We have been reporting various bundled offers for the prepaid segment from all the operators time to time on Telecomtalk.
If we notice, the results are very clear. Few of them to note are:
1. Prepaid users are enjoying the benefits as and when the market reacts i.e. quickly and were also able to quickly switch to a next offer available in the market.
2. Prepaid users are enjoying more benefits compared to the postpaid segment at less price points.
Earlier the case used to be this way where postpaid users, the premium segment used to enjoy more bundled benefits monthly than the prepaid segment who have all options to fly away. The market is not like earlier now. Prepaid users are enjoying more exclusive benefits than postpaid users who needs to settle bonded with billing cycle and PORT Out offers to the max from their operator. Prepaid users can enjoy full Talktime and ST included data packs whereas postpaid users are still being charged an extra ST on the same which doesn't make any sense to a postpaid consumer.
To put it on the table: On a high-level note as a consumer what is the significant value I'm gaining being a postpaid user? There are a lot of parameters to put forward and discuss which is not the main intention of this story now, but with lucrative offerings on prepaid and no service quality difference why would any one need to stick with postpaid segment anymore? If we observe atleast in the current scenario, operators are not trying any possibility to improve service experience of a postpaid consumer.
Also read: Airtel unlimited calling , Idea Unlimited calling , Vodafone unlimited calling
Glad to see that operators are focusing on the large segment of users i.e. prepaid and coming out with very lucrative offers every other day to withstand the competition. On the other hand, they should also remember that there are postpaid users as well on their network who are paying higher than the prepaid segment and don't feel anything special about the privilege of being on postpaid.
The same is the case with almost all operators including the new entrant. What is the service or benefit difference does any teleco is offering to a postpaid user? The whole scenario looks like rushing away with no road map ahead to build a healthy postpaid ecosystem.
Case*: When a postpaid user is paying let us say some Rs 400 +ST for some X benefits monthly on an operator, the other day the same operator launches an offer for ~Rs380 including ST which gives Y benefits greater than X, who is the fool here? As a postpaid user, I use the same network and service like your prepaid user. Where is the significant difference from an operator on the postpaid segment?
Just to give an example experience : I have been using postpaid connections of almost all operators, while Idea has significant positive differences at IT end, I had an awful experience multiple times with their team not good in handling premium usage consumers whose CL is Rs30,000.
So, what should any postpaid consumer infer from this? With no significant differences between prepaid and postpaid segments now, why should anyone stick to postpaid segment and face all the hassle from telecoes when users get the same service and more benefits on prepaid? Everyone knows how tough it is to acquire and retain a postpaid consumer, but all these moves without any roadmap or planning in the telecom sector give out negative indications not to stick the with postpaid segment anymore and switch to prepaid and enjoy the services.
Dear readers, are you experiencing any significant differential experience on the postpaid segment? Do let us know your thoughts/opinions on your experiences on postpaid in the current market scenario and also on the story via comments or tweet me @Srikapardhi.
Note: Views are author's own and are based on his experiences only*. May or may not be the same with your case as well.
