Airtel Unveils Rs. 289 Recharge With 1GB Data, Unlimited Voice Calls to Take on Idea, Jio

Airtel has introduced a new open market prepaid pack in the Indian market priced at Rs. 289, which offers unlimited voice calls (local, STD, and roaming), 100 SMS messages per day, and a total of 1GB 2G/ 3G/ 4G data. The recharge has a validity of 48 days and is available for every Airtel user in the country. In comparison, Idea Cellular has a competing recharge priced at Rs. 295, which offers more data, capped at a total of 5GB, but with a lower validity of 42 days. Calls remain unlimited with Idea's offering as well. Let's get into the details of the Airtel recharge now.

While Airtel is offering truly unlimited voice calls in this recharge, the ones in the competing Idea recharge have a fair usage policy of 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week, as per a report by Telecom Talk. Gadgets 360 has been able to independently verify the availability and specifications of the Airtel Rs. 289 prepaid pack.

Interestingly enough, Airtel's prepaid suite has a Rs. 299 recharge that offers 1.4GB 3G/ 4G data per day, unlimited voice calls, 100 SMS messages per day, with a slightly lesser validity of 42 days. Considering these benefits, the only advantage that the new Rs. 289 recharge has over this recharge is that it is widely available for all handsets and the Rs. 299 unlimited recharge might be restricted to certain circles.

Similarly, Reliance Industries-owned telecom giant Jio also has a recharge priced at Rs. 299, however the benefits substantially outweigh those of the Airtel and Idea prepaid recharge. The Jio Rs. 299 recharge offers the user 3GB of 4G data per day, truly unlimited voice calling, 100 SMS messages per day, and complimentary subscription to Jio's suite of apps. Even this pack is available to access for all Jio Prime members.