Reliance Jio today did an impressive job of sweeping most people in the country off their feet with ultra-low tariffs, including an offer for unlimited voice calling at Rs 149 and unlimited 4G downloading at night for Rs 499 per month.
But there’s one group of customers who are less than happy, perhaps even feeling a bit let down — those who use wireless data for work.
These users, who include work-from-home professionals and small and medium enterprises, were hoping that they would be able to get about 100 GB a month at an expense of Rs 1,500 to 2,500 per month.
However, Jio’s plans haven’t exactly lived up to their expectations.
The biggest package unveiled by Mukesh Ambani today was for 75 GB of daytime 4G data per month, and that too at a steep cost of Rs 4,999.
Though its still cheaper than the kind of tariffs Indians are used to — others were charging Rs 2,500 for 20 GB — it still is not-quite-there in terms of disruptive pricing for heavy daytime users.
And in an unexpected turn of events, many of these professionals users are considering switching to, or staying with, Bharti Airtel, which slashed its data pricing for heavy users earlier this week.
Bharti Airtel, under its new scheme, offers its customers a tariff of Rs 51 per GB.
The only catch to the offer: Users have to recharge with Rs 1,500 once a year to avail of this tariff.
In other words, for someone who uses 1 GB a day for work purposes, Bharti Airtel is currently cheaper than Reliance Jio.
Under Jio’s plans, once has to spend Rs 2,499 to get 35 GB of data per month. Under Bharti Airtel’s new plan, one has to give a rent of Rs 130 per month plus a data charge of Rs 1,785 for 35 GB, taking the total to Rs 1,915 — which is cheaper than Jio’s offer by a substantial margin.
In addition, Airtel’s offer does not compel you to use exactly 35 GB. You can also consume 30 GB and pay less.
The only advantage that Jio offers is that it is clubbing unlimited nighttime 4G use as well as free voice calls throughout the day. But for the heavy data users who do not have any utility for these two propositions, Airtel remains the cheaper option for now.
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