Airtel cuts data prices by up to 32 per cent

Continuing with its offensive on the tariff front ahead of the launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel on Monday once again cut data prices for its prepaid users by up to 32 per cent with an eye on retaining its customers as well as incentivise them to increase usage. This is the second time within a little more than a month’s time that Bharti has cut data tariffs for prepaid users. For its postpaid users, earlier this month it had come out with a bundled data plan wherein voice calls were made free. While data prices for prepaid users in the past month or so have been slashed by all the three big incumbents - Bharti, Vodafone and Idea Cellular - bundled data plans with free voice calling have been introduced so far by Bharti and Vodafone. The new data pack for prepaid users - who comprise about 95 per cent of its total user base of 250 million subscribers - announced on Monday seeks a minimum commitment from users and provide subsequent recharges at very nominal rates. Further, they provide a carry-forward facility in case the data is not consumed within a month’s validity period. To avail the new benefit, Bharti’s prepaid customers will have to pay Rs 1,498 for a recharge, which gets them 1 GB of 3G/4G data valid for 28 days. After the 1 GB data limit is exhausted, the customers can get 1 GB 3G/4G recharges for just Rs 51 over a period of 12 months, and there is no limit on the number of recharges during the period. FE