Airtel, now the second-largest telecom operator in the country after the formalities surrounding the Vodafone-Idea merger were completed last week, has introduced three new prepaid vouchers that the company says will simplify its prepaid plans and draw in new subscribers. The vouchers come in denominations of Rs. 35, 65 and 95, and not only offer data and talktime, but also act as rate-cutters for all local and national voice calls on mobiles and landlines.
All the three packs come with 28-day validity, but offer different benefits. While the former comes with 100MB of 3G/4G data, a talk time of Rs 26.66 and offers a tariff of 1p/sec (or 60p/min) for local and STD calls, the latter comes with 200MB of 3G/4G data, full talk-time of Rs. 65 and the same 1p/sec (or 60p/min) tariff offer for local and national voice calls. The Rs 95 voucher also offers full talk-time, but with 500MB of data, and brings down the voice-call tariff further to 1p/2-seconds (or 30p/min).
| Denomination (RS.) | Talktime (Rs.) | Tariff | Data | Validity (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 26.66 | 60p/min or 1p/sec | 100MB | 28 |
| 65 | 65 | 60p/min or 1p/sec | 200MB | 28 |
| 95 | 95 | 30p/min or 1p/sec | 500MB | 28 |
In a press release announcing the new offerings, Airtel said that the new vouchers “have been designed on the basis of extensive research and feedback from customers, who highlighted the need for talk time, tariff and data built into one single pack instead of the need to do separate recharges”. The packs will initially be launched in Punjab, Tamil Nadu & UP West and will be rolled out in other parts of the country over the next few weeks, said the company.
Even as Reliance Jio keeps growing its market-share, revenues and profits by offering unlimited free voice calls without any fine print, its competitors seemingly aren’t in a mood to follow suit. It will be interesting to see whether eventually, the likes of Airtel and Idea Vodafone make all voice calls free like Jio.
