Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) said its 350 million plus customers have more than sufficient unlimited call timing before its off net charges kick in. The telco’s stance that it remains the operator with cheaper tariffs on the back of Airtel and Vodafone Idea removing their limits on off net calls, is a sign wars have not abated and Jio remains the threat .
Jio is yet to take any such step. “Entitlement for off net calls in Jio’s "All in One Plans" is more than 5 times of what an average customer uses as per industry data and consequently, an average Jio customer is unlikely to have to ever pay for off net calls. We reiterate that Jio plans offer upto 25% higher value than comparable plans of other operators,” said a spokesperson.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have removed limits on off net calls over last weekend, a reaction to rival Reliance Jio’s latest tariff plans which are up to 25% cheaper than theirs.
Off net calls can be used as a strategy where a telecom company rolls out a fair usage policy (FUP), to cap daily usage in their unlimited calling plans. After a limit customers are charged per minute for calls made to a rival’s network. In the case of the three telcos it was at 6 paise per minute and the unlimited calls varied depending on price plans.