Vodafone Refreshes Its Rs. 47 Recharge to Take on Jio, Airtel

Vodafone has refreshed its entry-level prepaid pack priced at just Rs. 47. This pack now offers users with 7,500 seconds or 125 minutes of local and STD voice calling, 50 local and national SMS messages, and 500MB of 3G/ 4G data with a validity of 28 days. However, the same pack is available in certain telecom circles such as Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with a tariff of Rs. 48. Also, the Rs. 47 pack offers up to 1GB of 3G/ 4G data in the Bihar and Jharkhand circle. Notably, the pack comes with 150 minutes worth of talktime in circles including Chennai, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Prior to this refresh, Vodafone's Rs. 47 prepaid pack offered 1GB of 3G/ 4G data with a validity of one day. This pack had no calling or SMS benefits. With the refresh, Vodafone aims to reach customers that want a decent mix of benefits at the same affordable pricing. Comparatively, Reliance Jio has a Rs. 49 prepaid pack that offers 1GB of 4G data, truly unlimited voice calls, 50 SMS messages, and complimentary subscription to Jio's suite of apps. However, this pack is restricted only to the Jio Phone range of smart feature phones.

Interestingly, Airtel has a plan that matches the one from Vodafone. This prepaid pack, also priced at Rs. 47, gives users 150 minutes of local, STD, and national roaming calls, 50 local + STD SMS messages, and 500MB of 3G/ 4G data.

Earlier this month, Vodafone had refreshed yet another prepaid pack for select users - this time the one priced at Rs. 458. As per a report, the pack now offers 2.8GB of 3G/ 4G data per day, compared to 1.4GB GB previously. It also comes with free local, STD, roaming calling, and 100 free SMS messages per day.

Will Jio Phone 2 help WhatsApp, YouTube reach the next billion users in India? We discussed that 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.