A new plan being bundled with Xiaomi’s new affordable plan, Redmi 5A, suggests that Reliance Jio could soon launch its first monthly unlimited plan priced at Rs 199.
The plan, valid for four weeks, will give 1 GB of data per day, unlimited voice and access to Jio apps.
The bundled offer on Xiaomi 5A promises 1 GB of data per day for 28 days at Rs 199. The scheme will be available to 5A users for at least one year.
A similar bundled plan for the iPhone, which gives 3 GB per day at Rs 799 per month, was soon made available to the general public.
5A OFFERS
For Redmi 5A buyers, Jio also promises recharge vouchers worth Rs 1,000, taking its effective price to Rs 3,999. The vouchers can be used only after the first year to make subsequent recharges.
Priced at Rs 4,999, the Redmi 5A launched today is the cheapest entry-level model launched by Xiaomi ever in India.
In terms of specifications, it follows the traditional entry-level formula of the Chinese brand — 2GB RAM, 16 GB storage, a quad-core processor and a 5-inch HD display.
Before today’s announcement, Jio was offering 30 GB of free data to anyone using Xiaomi phones under a brand tie-up.
FROM TRIMONTHLY TO MONTHLY?
Despite making promises to roll out monthly plans with unlimited data, the Mukesh Ambani-led 4G operator has so far stuck to longer term plans with at least seven weeks of validity.
Its most popular and economical plan has a validity of 12 weeks — nearly three months — and gives 1 GB per day and unlimited calls for Rs 459.
As such, any plan priced at Rs 199 and valid for 28 days will still be 30% costlier than the current most popular plan of Rs 459.
In terms of numbers, the 459 plan offers 1 GB per day for 84 days — implying a cost of Rs 5.46 per day.
On the other hand, the Rs 199 plan costs Rs 7.11 per day.
Despite this, a 199-rupee plan will appeal to those who don’t want to spend Rs 450 at one go to make a recharge.
REVISED ESTIMATES?
Jio has been averse to launching single-month plans before it gets a feel of how much money people are willing to recharge to get their 4G voice and data.
Initially, it had estimated that people will be willing to pay around Rs 300 per month for unlimited voice and 1 GB of data per day. As such, it launched a Rs 309 plan with a validity of three months. It announced that the validity will be shrunk to 1 month over time.
However, it seemed to have met with some resistance from consumers as it tried to gradually reduce the validity and increase the monthly cost.
As a result, it introduced a Rs 459 plan during Diwali this year with a validity of three months (12 weeks).
For now, therefore, it seems to have revised its targeted ARPU to Rs 150-200 per month from Rs 300 per month.
Interestingly, the move seems to have been anticipated by rivals.
Vodafone, for example, reportedly offers a data-only priced at Rs 199 which gives 1 GB per day for 28 days, while Airtel is reported to have launched a similar plan at Rs 198, but with added free calls.
However, both of these are targeted offers and not regular tariffs.
At present, there is a quasi consensus in the market on offering 1 GB per day for 10-12 weeks at a cost of around Rs 450. While Jio offers a validity of 12 weeks, the others offer 10 weeks — all at around Rs 450.
This price implies a realization of Rs 153 per month (28 days) for Jio and Rs 180 per month for the others.
If Jio now moves to Rs 199 per month with the new tariff, it would enable the others to move to Rs 240 or Rs 250 per month.