All Telecom Operators going all out to cash-in on this Diwali season. First it was Idea, who slashed their International roaming rates by 75%. Now, Reliance has come up a festive bonanza scheme where Indians (and others) can call India at lowest rates.
Every Reliance Global Call user from USA, U.K., Australia and Canada can avail a discount of up to 40% on their calls to India, be it on landlines or mobiles. The users have to subscribe to a monthly pack costing USD 9.99, just for this one festive month. Here are the highlights of the plan…
Ø Special Plan Value – USD 9.99 for the festive month
Ø Single account for calling from mobile and landline
Ø Dedicated pack for frequent callers for those never ending chats
Ø Uninterrupted calling through Auto Recharge
Ø Hassle free direct dialing with Free Smart Phone App
Ø No hidden charges or daily caps
Ø No contracts – free to cancel at any time
Country wise benefit of Unlimited Calling Pack
|
Country |
Unlimited Calling Pack |
Unlimited Calling Diwali Pack |
Discount |
|
USA |
USD 15.99 |
USD 9.99 |
37.50% |
|
Canada |
CAD 14.99 |
CAD 8.99 |
40.00% |
|
UK |
GBP 11.99 |
GBP 7.49 |
37.50% |
|
Australia |
AUD 19.99 |
AUD 14.49 |
27.50% |
“Call to India Competition” Matrix, Vonage & more..
So basically it is a no strings attached USD9.99 deal. This seems like a great initiative to get more people on board, as the target countries are the ones with most number of PIOs (Person of Indian Origin). The thing though is that the competition in this segment has increased manifolds after Matrix came into the picture.
With direct unlimited data usage offers Matrix got a hell of an attention. Heavy duty marketing and packages for students in particular and customized based on the county made it even more popular. Packages are customised based on whether you are a leisure traveller or business traveller. All of this probably started to eat into Reliance’s market share abroad. Such strategies work out only if at the end of the month it converts the temporary bonanza pack users into permanent customers. Reliance has done a lot in the past few months to appease the customers; it had just introduced the unlimited calling pack this September and now this.
A festival offer can lure the people, but since there is no bond of any sort chances are they will use it only for a month or so. If reliance manages to provide the people with a great service that may seem like something worth giving a thought. Since there are certain claims made by Vonage on its blog that Reliance doesn’t provide proper service as compared to theirs. And Reliance will have to match its competitors in not just the voice calling segment but also in the data segment too.
So don’t click the red button just yet, carry on for a little longer.
