ADVERTISEMENT

Bharti Airtel Looks To Tackle Reliance Jio With Its Own Free Data Plan  

Bharti Airtel offers 90 days unlimited data for 4G customers.

A man uses a mobile phone inside an Airtel store in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Kuni Takahasi/Bloomberg)
A man uses a mobile phone inside an Airtel store in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Kuni Takahasi/Bloomberg)

India’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel launched a new special 4G data pack which will offer the customers unlimited data for 90 days, in a move to tackle new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.’s offer of free or cheap data and voice calls.

The data pack is priced at Rs 1,495 for existing users and Rs 1,494 for new users, the company said in a press release. The pack is available in the Delhi circle and is expected to be rolled out across other circles in the next few days.

The data pack is specifically aimed at customers who have heavy 4G usage, the release added.

Customers with 4G handsets generally consume large amounts of data and this proposition is specifically aimed at them. With this pack these customers can stay online round the clock without having to worry about exhausting their data limits or going for frequent recharges.  
Ajai Puri, Director of Operations (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel in the press release.

Airtel has said that it will apply fair usage policy to the plan. This means that after a certain amount of usage, the data speed will be rationalised.

Incumbent telecom operators such as Bharti and Vodafone India are reducing prices after Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the most recent entrant to India’s telecom sector, launched commercial operations this month, offering all services free until the end of the year.