Disruption of mobile data pricing continues in the Indian market, as incumbent service providers continue to react to market entry by Reliance Jio, which aside from taking account share is disrupting the mobile data market, now expected to represent virtually all the industry revenue growth.
Reliance Jio attracted about 50 million accounts in three months after launch (albeit with generous “free” data usage), putting pressure on existing data tariffs.
In reaction, Vodafone doubled its data usage buckets, while Bharti Airtel launched new prepaid plans offering up to four times as much data, as well as dropping prices.
The new packs are priced at Rs 253 and Rs 494, offering data benefits for as low as Rs 50 per GB.
| New Bharti Airtel Prepaid Data Plans | ||
| Data | Old Rate | Current Offer |
| 4 GB | Rs 748 | Rs 253 |
| 10 GB | Rs 1248 | Rs 494 |
| source: Telecom Talk | ||
The new mobile data packaging is crucial since mobile data is expected to drive virtually all the revenue growth in the Indian mobile market. That, in fact, is the foundation of the Reliance Jio assault, based on supplying 4G-only service, and ample spectrum, compared to most of the other suppliers.
In fact, Reliance Jio lags only Bharti Airtel in terms of total available spectrum.
