Airtel, Jio or Vodafone? Don't change your operator for discounts or offers yet
It was on September 5, 2016 that Reliance Jio started operations in India and changed the landscape of the telecom industry in the country. Backed by the deep pockets of Mukesh Ambani – with investment of more than 1.9 lakh crore to set up the infrastructure needed for a 4G first network – the new kid on the block single-handedly changed the game and left established players in the industry struggling to understand what hit them. Before they could react, these big players saw their subscriber base plunge in a matter of months – more than 125 million subscribers joined the Jio bandwagon, many of them jumping ship from existing operators.
But things didn't stop there. The aftermath of Jio's entry saw a never before seen shake-up of the industry. Profits tumbled across the board to record lows, and in an unprecedented move, Idea and Vodafone announced that they would merge. Eventually, Jio's move also prompted the incumbent players to band together and take on Mukesh Ambani's firm in a price war that saw voice calls becoming free and data charges being slashed by more than 50 per cent.
Much to the cheer of customers, over a year on, the price war looks no closer to coming to an end, but with Jio charging for its services now – albeit nominally – the playing field looks comparatively even from a year before. Airtel, Vodafone and Idea look to be making a comeback into the game and consolidating their position.
In the past few months, we've even seen these operators come out with ultra-affordable plans that match Jio's offerings in terms of price and services, bringing us to the all-important question: is there really a need to switch operators anymore over the lure of an attractively-priced plan?
Price war
Short answer, no. But, let me explain.
Unlike last year when Jio first stepped into the ring and took everyone by surprise with its free data and calling offers, its plans don't carry the same kind of upgrade value in relation to the competition anymore. Though still extremely aggressive, its offers do not bring anything earth-shattering that should make you sit up and seriously think about ditching your existing operator. And to be honest, that works the other way too.
With the industry stabilising, and telecom players matching each other in terms of price and offers, there is little reason to go through the trouble of changing operators to avail a better plan.
Case in point: the recent tariff announcements by incumbent operators to counter Jio. Post-Diwali, when Jio announced its plans, Vodafone and Airtel quickly countered it with their very own Rs 199 and Rs 149 plans. Though the 199 plan for postpaid users is extremely aggressive in itself, it's Airtel's Rs 149 prepaid plan that shows how far the telecom operators are ready to take this price war.
The plans also reveal how the price war has brought the industry to a place where there isn't much wiggle room, as operators have already evened out their plans to offer benefits similar to what the competition is offering.
More than just price war
But it's not just the tariff plans that have helped create this newfound balance in the market. Telecom operators are putting in huge resources even in hardware to ensure that they can match the competition every step of the way.
Airtel-Karbon's A41 Indian and the Idea-Vodafone Rs 2,500 smartphone being announced shortly after Mukesh Ambani dropping the "effectively free" JioPhone bombshell hint exactly at that.
The curious case for 4G and network coverage
Apart from the plans, and the hardware, the only other consideration that should prompt a user to switch operators, is the coverage and quality of the network, and it's here's where things start to get a bit complicated.
In theory, Reliance Jio — with its network built on the state-of-the-art 4G VoLTE platform at a staggering cost of more than 1.9 Lakh crore — should take the wind out of competitors' sails. In real life, it doesn't.
Granted, the operator has the largest 4G network across the country, but its platform suffers from connectivity issues, call drops and less than satisfactory internet speeds that, at times, don't even match up to the speeds you can achieve on a good 3G connection.
Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, on the other hand, have an aging platform which, outside of metro cities, fails to match up to Jio's 4G network in terms of the speeds on offer. However, in terms of reliability of the connection – stable internet speeds, call drops etc – their networks – especially Airtel's – remain superior to Jio's offering.
Why you shouldn't switch
But should any of these issues prompt you to switch networks? Not really. Understanding the need for remaining competitive, all four operators – soon to be three with the Vodafone-Idea merger – are moving towards fixing the flaws that plague their platforms.
Jio, by adding bandwidth and towers to support the stress on its still maturing network, and the other incumbents by pouring in thousands of crores to upgrade and improve their mature but aging networks.
So, for now, it's advisable to wait out this storm that still engulfs the telecom industry. In a year or two, we might have clearcut winner(s), but till then, to switch networks over the lure of a better-priced plan, service or even the promise of a 4G platform makes little sense as these are all things that will be offered by your existing operator in the near future.