BSNL versus Reliance Jio, which deal is best for you?
Summer may have sprung a surprise with an early onset, but it's the freebie battle between Reliance Jio versus all other telcos that's getting hotter. The state-owned BSNL is the latest to join the bandwagon with an attractive "Unlimited Broadband" offer that would include 10GB of data per day and unlimited voice calling — the maximum offered by any major telco in India by far.
What's up for grabs
The BSNL offer will be available at a cost of Rs 249. But there is a catch. Unlike Reliance Jio, the plan does not come with free voice calling 24×7. The BSNL free voice calling will only be available after 9pm till 7am, except Sundays, when users will be able to make calls without this restriction.
Moreover, the speed offered by the state-owned company — 2Mbps — won’t be able to compete with not just Jio, but other major 4G network providers. Also, there is no word on the drop in speed after the daily limit is reached.
Nevertheless, with 10GB per day, this can easily be one of the cheapest data plans any major telco has to offer at the moment.
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| The red hot deals indeed look too good to resist, especially as wired broadband (BSNL) too joined the freebie party. |
What's Reliance Jio up to
But Jio seems to be in no mood to end the free rollout. It has extended the deadline to enrol for its Jio Prime plan till April 15, 2017 (the original deadline was March 31).
Apart from extending the deadline, Jio unveiled another latest offer — Summer Surprise — which Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani promised to be the first of many surprises lined up for Jio Prime members.
In a statement, Ambani said more than 72 million Jio customers have signed up for Jio Prime so far and the number is only supposed to go up further.
What's Summer Surprise
The latest offer is effectively an extension of Reliance's "Happy New Year offer", where users will get three months of data service at the cost of one. The free services on Jio will remain available till the end of this month.
According to a News18.com report, the Summer Surprise offer is only valid for Jio Prime subscribers. To avail the offer, Jio Prime members will have to make their first recharge before April 15. The minimum recharge amount is Rs 303. Users can also opt for any higher value plan as well. On doing so, subscribers will get services for the initial three months for free. The paid tariff plan will be applied only in July, after the expiry of the complimentary service.
The Rs 303-Jio Prime plan will include free unlimited SMS, unlimited free voice calls, access to Jio apps with 28 days validity. While data is unlimited, users will receive 4G speeds for 28GB data only, after which the speed will slow down. There is also a daily FUP or fair usage policy of 1GB. This means you will get 4G speeds for 1GB data consumption daily for 28 days with the Rs 303 Jio Prime plan.
What's there for customers
The extension move, no doubt, comes as a relief to millions of Jio customers who can enrol themselves for the service by paying a one-time fee of Rs 99. After subscribing to Jio Prime, the user will have to pay Rs 303 for the services to continue from May.
Reliance Jio's big freebie gamble has already reshaped India's mobile world with rivals slashing their tariffs and announcing counter-offers to stop their users from defecting to Jio.
This is a situation where the customers are spoiled for choice. But there is someone who is worried over these developments.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said Reliance Jio’s latest pricing will continue to bleed the industry and there is risk of cascading impact on banks and others that have large exposure to the telecom sector.
According to the COAI, while lower pricing is good for consumers, the larger question of whether such pricing confirms to tariff regulations is a matter that needs to be settled by the courts and the telecom tribunal.
“The industry will continue to bleed under this pricing, and there is the risk of cascading impact on the banks, government (accruals from licence fee and spectrum payments made by telcos), and equipment manufacturers,” COAI director general Rajan Mathews was quoted as saying by the PTI.
The telecom industry, according to the same PTI report, owes close to Rs 4.60 lakh crore to various financial institutions and banks.
Reliance Jio launched its inaugural free voice and data plan in September 2016. But in December, it extended the offer till March 31. This has already caused much discomfort among rival operators, which alleged that such freebies not only hit their profitability and disrupted the market but were also against the regulations.
Competitors such as Airtel and Idea Cellular have even moved the telecom tribunal against regulator TRAI for letting Reliance Jio continue the promotional offer beyond the stipulated 90 days (Jio has already offered promotional plans for about 200 days). The regulator has been accused of being a “mute spectator” to the violations.
They have also questioned the free offers on the ground that it violates the floor of 14 paise per minute set in the form of call termination charges.
TRAI, however, believes that 14 paise cannot be seen as a standard “prescription” for call rates as cellular operators themselves have been offering many plans like unlimited night time calls that breach the so-called floor.
But that's not something that the customer seems to be much bothered right at the moment. The red hot deals indeed look too good to resist, especially as wired broadband (BSNL) too joined the freebie party.