The just launched Jio Postpaid Plus plan is making heads turned.
Just when you think Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio has already outdone itself in the telecom space, it brings forth a new plan that knocks every other competitor out of the park. Such the case with Jio’s new revelation that has been making headlines today.
The Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator has rolled out their Jio postpaid plus plans which include offers such as 500 GB of data bundled with the subscription to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ Hotstar!
It is well known by all that post-paid users tends to return much higher ARPUs aka average revenue per user than the pre-paid segment and thus it seems like Reliance Jio doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to capturing this segment.
Until now, Jio had only one postpaid plan of Rs 199 and focused largely on prepaid customers who make up 90% of the 400 telecom subscribers it has in India. However, the recent announcement is going to radically change all of it.
According to the telecom giant, their new ‘PostPaid Plus’ users will be entitled to ‘superior services across connectivity, entertainment, and experience.’
All of their users in this category will be getting free subscriptions to OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar VIP, along with complimentary access to Jio apps which currently has over 650 live TV channels, video content, five crore songs, and last but not the least more than 300 digital newspapers.
Besides this, Reliance Jio is also offering in-flight connectivity for individuals who travel to overseas often, free international roaming in the US and UAE, and much more.
Jio PostPaid Plus Plans: Declaring War
This is obviously the declaration of war by Ambani to Jio’s leading rivals Vi (previously known as Vodafone Idea) and Bharati Airtel.
Interestingly, the announcement of Jio PostPaid Plus plans comes at a time when both these giants have been thinking of increasing their tariff rates for quite some time. Therefore, it clearly highlights the facebook-backed telecom’s intentions of snatching the highest-paid users of its competitors.
Jio’s new plan in the postpaid segment starts from Rs 399 and goes up to Rs 1499. As for its rivals – Airtel’s post plans start at Rs 499 while Vodafone Idea’s begins from Rs 399.
Here, one needs to recall how in September 2016, Jio had entered the telecom market with pre-paid offers which bundled unlimited free voice calls with cheap data and within a short span of four years emerged as the market leader.
Now, with the launch of Jio Postpaid Plus plan the company is trying to replicate the unprecedented success of its prepaid plans.
The main objective of Jio behind launch such jaw-dropping postpaid plus plans is to attract the high-value clients of its competitors.
Weighing down on the same, there are some who believe it won’t. For instance, Rajiv Sharma who is currently the Head of Research at SBI Caps believes offers won’t alone make the highest paying customers of its rivals budge and thus Jio needs to focus more on brand building.
Then there are some industry analysts who believe the Mukesh Ambani-led telco will find it difficult to poach the postpaid segment users of its two competitors because smartphone users aren’t exactly looking to score a free membership to OTT platforms.
In most cases, users already have access to a wide variety of content with humongous amounts of data and thus there needs to exist something more which will help users budge from where they presently are.
At present, Jio’s ARPU is at Rs 140 while Vodafone Idea’s is at Rs 114 and Bharati Airtel’s stands at Rs 157.Â
All in all, Reliance Jio launching postpaid plus plans is part of a bigger picture besides them simply wanting to eat into the market of its rivals. The telco has aimed to reach another 100 million more subscribers within the next three years which will need a bigger war chest and thus the introduction of post-paid tariffs becoming even more strategic move.
Now, it remains to be seen how users of Airtel and Vi are going to respond to Jio postpaid plus plans. We will keep you updated on all future developments. Until then stay tuned.
