Jio[1] launched its most affordable postpaid plan this week, offering more data than incumbents’ plans costing nearly twice as much. Available to subscribers from Tuesday, May 15, the Rs. 199 Jio postpaid plan[2] will come with 25GB of data, free voice calls, unlimited text messages, and pre-activated ISD calls (starting at 50p per minute). The company is also touting one-touch activation for international roaming with the plan. And like with other plans by the operator, this one comes with complimentary access to Jio apps.
This Jio plan directly takes aim at postpaid plans that cost about Rs. 400. Airtel and Vodafone have their Rs. 399 plans[3], with 20GB of high-speed data, free local and STD calls, as well as no roaming charges. The Airtel[4] plan also comes with 100 free text messages per day and subscription to Wynk Music and Airtel TV apps, while Vodafone[5] offers access to the Vodafone Play app. As for Idea[6], its plan costs Rs. 389 and comes with 20GB data, free calls and text messages, and access to the operator’s gaming and streaming apps; however, calls made while roaming are chargeable. All three operators offer data rollover facility up to 200GB, something the Jio plan does not.
For international travellers, Jio also announced new roaming packs. The Rs. 575 pack comes with 250MB of high-speed data and validity of one day. Then there’s the Rs. 2,198 Jio international roaming pack with validity of 7 days and 250MB 4G data per day. Lastly, the roaming pack with 30-day validity with come with 5GB of high-speed data. Once the high-speed data is exhausted, the Internet speed will be capped at 64kbps. All these packs come with...