Airtel cuts 4G price by up to 80% to check R Jio effect

In a move to counter Reliance Jio, telecom major Bharti Airtel has slashed 4G and 3G mobile internet charges by up to 80 % to as low as Rs. 51 per gigabyte (GB) under a special scheme.

To avail of this benefit, Airtel customers will have to recharge with Rs. 1,498 against which they will get 1GB of 4G or 3G mobile internet usage valid for 28 days, the company said in a statement.

On exhausting the 1GB data limit, customers can get 1GB 4G or 3G recharges for just Rs. 51 over a period of 12 months and there would be no limit on the number of recharges during the period.

At present, Airtel offers 1GB of 3G or 4G mobile internet for Rs. 259 valid for 28 days.

The company is also set to launch a similar scheme in a lower denomination of Rs. 748. Under this scheme, Airtel customers will get 1GB of 4G for Rs. 99 over a period of six months.

“These prepaid packs are live in Delhi and will get launched across circles by Aug 31, 2016,” the statement said.

“With these innovative packs, we are redefining the value proposition on our data packs and allowing our customers to get a lot more within the same budget,” Bharti Airtel Director — Operations (India & South Asia), Ajai Puri, said.

Airtel in July started offering up to 67 per cent more data under the existing 4G and 3G schemes, which was followed by Idea Cellular and Vodafone.

In August 2016, Airtel made voice calling free even in roaming under a new plan for Rs. 1,199, which also included 1GB of 3G or 4G data depending on availability of network.