Airtel Upgrades Rs. 799, Rs. 1,199 Postpaid Plans to Offer More Data to Take on Jio, Vodafone

Jio launching the Rs. 199 postpaid plan has compelled rival telecom operators to up the ante. Vodafone recently shifted the battleground to the postpaid market in India with a refresh to its Vodafone Red range of unlimited plans. Now, it seems even market leader Airtel wants a slice of that pie. In its recent round of upgrades, Airtel has updated its Rs. 799 postpaid plan to offer 100GB of 3G/ 4G data, while the Rs. 1,199 plan now offers subscribers with 120GB of 3G/ 4G data. This is a substantial upgrade, considering the two Airtel plans previously offered 60GB and 100GB, respectively. As before, data rollover facility is available.

The Rs. 799 Airtel postpaid plan now offers 100GB of data, unlimited local, STD, and roaming calls, one-year subscription to Amazon Prime, Wynk Music subscription, Airtel TV subscription, handset protection, and two add-on connections. The new Rs. 1,199 postpaid plan now offers 120GB of 3G/ 4G data while rest of the benefits remain same.

Late last month, Airtel's Rs. 649 postpaid plan was updated to offer up to 90GB of 3G/ 4G mobile data, apart from the usual calling and app benefits. Much like every new plan in Airtel's refreshed postpaid suite, the Rs. 649 offering also has data rollover benefits.

In contrast, Vodafone last month revamped its Rs. 499 and Rs. 1,299 postpaid plans. The Rs. 499 one now offers 75GB of 3G/ 4G data with up to 200GB data rollover, unlimited voice calling, Vodafone Play subscription for one year, Amazon Prime subscription for one year, device protection, and additional coupons. On the other hand, the Rs. 1,299 Vodafone Red plan gives subscribers 100GB of data with up to 500GB in data rollover. It also comes with a two-month Netflix subscription and 100 ISD minutes (applicable in the US, Canada, China, Hongkong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand). Rest of the benefits remain same as the Rs. 499 plan.

Prior to its refresh last month, Jio offered several plans under its postpaid suite. However, only the plan priced at Rs. 199 is being offered to the telecom giant's postpaid subscribers in India. This Jio plan is valid for a standard bill cycle, gives the user a total of 25GB 4G data, free unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS messages per day, and complimentary access to Jio's entire suite of apps.

Is the Reliance Jio effect spreading to postpaid connections in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.