Rs 499 Plans Compared – Which Is The Best Value-For-Money Plan?
The Idea Rs. 499 prepaid plan offers a total of 164 GB 2G/3G/4G data for a validity period of 82 days.
The Indian telecom sector is going through one of the biggest transformations ever and every incumbent is trying to gain hold of the market as much as possible. As Jio brings in a new industry-shattering plan every quarter, all other operators are forced to launch similarly-priced plans to stay in the competition.
After a streak of losses in multiple quarters, the Aditya Birla led Idea Cellular is fighting it hard to stay at par with rivals Jio and Airtel. The company has launched yet another prepaid plan of Rs 499 to offer 2GB data per day for a period of 82 days.
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Rs 499 Plans: Idea Vs Airtel Vs Jio Vs Vodafone Vs BSNL
The Rs 499 plans remain one of the most recharged plans for all the telcos which generally come with a three-month or a little lesser validity period (82 or 84 days). Let us look at some plans offered by various telecom players in the market.
[Plans close to the Rs 499 price-point are also considered]
1. Idea Rs 499 Plan
The Idea Rs. 499 prepaid plan offers a total of 164 GB 2G/3G/4G data for a validity period of 82 days. The plan is in-line with Airtel’s 499 plan and offers a daily cap limit of 2 GB data per day. The plan also offers unlimited voice calling (local, STD and national roaming) with 100 free SMS per day.
Post completion of daily data limit, data charges of 4 paise per 10KB will be applicable. Also, national roaming is only free on Idea network.
| Price | Rs 499/- |
| Daily Data Cap | 2 GB per day |
| Total Data | 164 GB |
| Post Completion | Chargeable After 2GB Daily Limit |
| Calls | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD) & National Roaming – Only Idea |
| SMS | 100 per day |
| Validity | 82 days |
2. Airtel Rs 499 Plan
The Rs 499 Airtel prepaid plan offers 2GB high-speed 3G/4G data per day for a validity period of 82 days. The 499 Airtel plan offers a total of 164 GB data with unlimited voice calling (local, STD and national roaming) and 100 free SMS per day.
Post completion of daily data limit, users will get free unlimited data at a reduced speed of 128 Kbps.
| Price | Rs 499 |
| Daily Data Cap | 2 GB per day |
| Total Data | 164 GB |
| Post Completion | Unlimited @ 128 Kbps |
| Calls | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD + National Roaming) |
| SMS | 100 per day |
| Validity | 82 days |
3. Jio Rs 498 Plan
The Rs 498 Jio plan comes with a total of 182 GB high-speed 4G data for a period of 91 days. The Jio 498 plan comes with a daily usage limit of 2 GB per day. The Jio prepaid plan offers free unlimited voice calls (local, STD and national roaming) with 100 free SMS per day and free access to premium Jio apps.
Post completion of daily data limit, users get free unlimited data at 64 Kbps.
| Price | Rs 498 |
| Daily Data Cap | 2 GB per day |
| Total Data | 182 GB |
| Post Completion | Unlimited @ 64 Kbps |
| Calls | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD + National Roaming) |
| SMS | 100 per day |
| Validity | 91 days |
4. Vodafone Rs 511 Plan
The Rs 511 Vodafone plan comes with a total of 164 GB high-speed 3G/4G data for a validity period of 84 days. The Vodafone plan will offer a daily usage limit of 2 GB high-speed data per day. The plan also offers free unlimited voice calls (local, STD and national roaming) with 100 free SMS per day.
Post completion of daily data limit, data charges are applicable.
| Price | Rs 511 |
| Daily Data Cap | 2 GB per day |
| Total Data | 168 GB |
| Post Completion | Chargeable After 2 GB Daily Limit |
| Calls | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD + National Roaming) |
| SMS | 100 per day |
| Validity | 84 days |
5. BSNL Rs 485 Plan
The Rs 485 BSNL plan offers unlimited data at 1.5 GB 3G data per day with unlimited calling (STD and local) and free 100 SMS per day. The Rs 485 prepaid plan comes under BSNL Happy Plans which offers a validity period of 91 days with a daily data cap of 1.5 GB and a total data of 136.5GB data.
Post completion of daily data limit, data charges are applicable.
| Price | Rs 485 |
| Daily Data Cap | 1.5 GB per day |
| Total Data | 136.5 GB |
| Post Completion | Chargeable After 1.5 GB Daily Limit |
| Calls | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD) |
| SMS | 100 per day |
| Validity | 91 days |
Detailed Comparison – All Rs 499 Plans
All the popular plans from the top telecom operators under Rs 499 or around 499 are compared.
| Idea | Airtel | Jio | Vodafone | BSNL | |
| Price | Rs 499 | Rs 499 | Rs 498 | Rs 511 | Rs 485 |
| Daily Data Cap | 2 GB per day | 2 GB per day | 2 GB per day | 2 GB per day | 1.5 GB per day |
| Total Data | 164 GB | 164 GB | 182 GB | 168 GB | 136.5 GB |
| Post Completion | Chargeable After 2 GB Daily Limit | Unlimited @ 128 Kbps | Unlimited @ 64 Kbps | Chargeable After 2 GB Daily Limit | Chargeable After 1.5 GB Daily Limit |
| Calls | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD) & National Roaming – Only Idea | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD + National Roaming) | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD + National Roaming) | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD + National Roaming) | Unlimited Calls (Local + STD) |
| Free SMS | 100 per day | 100 per day | 100 per day | 100 per day | 100 per day |
| Validity | 82 days | 82 days | 91 days | 84 days | 91 days |
As can be seen in the table above, the plans are more or less the same with miniscule differences. Which plan do you subscribe to? Do share your experiences in the comments below.
This could have been short and sweet in just one table
EXACTLY SAME details is represented in sentence then in individual table and then in a combined table.