5G Will Change Jio’s Pricing Strategy; Airtel Can Offer 4G VoLTE Smartphones For Rs 1000

Two very interesting developments have taken place in the telecom industry of India: A top Jio official has hinted that 5G will revolutionize every telco, and not only Jio but others too will have to radically shift their pricing mechanism.

On the other hand Airtel has indicated that very soon, they will start offering 4G VoLTE smartphones to their users for as low as Rs 1000.

But will every Airtel customer will be eligible for this offer?

Keep reading for find out more!

5G Will Radically Alter Pricing Strategy: Jio

As of now, most of the telcos including Jio have resorted to per second or per minute pricing mechanism: You pay for the seconds/minutes used or MBs of data consumed.

Although Jio made the calls free, but the foundation remained the same.

However, with 5G coming in from 2020, pricing strategy of the entire telecom industry will alter. And this has been said by Mathew Oommen, president of Jio.

As per Mathew, once 5G arrives, the pricing strategy will be based on an entire suite of services being offered, digitally. Voice calls and Internet and SMS will be just part of the combined package.

He said, “Once 5G digital services arrive, business will be based on the actual value that the telcos offer a consumer in terms of digital solutions, content, and services,”

Analysts are expecting that once 5G comes along, then the pricing would be based on ARPU or Average Revenue Per User, which will be a combined package for all services. Besides, newer services (on-demand entertainment, for example) can generate a new source of revenues as well.

As of now, only Jio is keen to buy 5G spectrum, whose bidding will start from 2019. Both Airtel and Vodafone-Idea have asked TRAI to slow down when it comes to 5G.

Recently, TRAI said that by 2022, India will be a complete 5G nation.

Airtel Will Offer Cheap 4G VoLTE Smartphones For Rs 1000?

Good news for 2G users of Airtel, who are planning to switch over to 4G.

Airtel is talking with OEMs, and soon, a mega offer would be launched, wherein users can get fully compatible 4G VoLTE smartphones for just Rs 1000.

Actual cost of these 4G VoLTE smartphones can be between Rs 2000 to 3500; however, Airtel will offer gift cards, free subscriptions and data to lower down the effective price to a range of Rs 1000 to Rs 1500.

Note here, that Jio’s 4G phones are mainly feature phones which have a 4G capability. But Airtel is looking at full-fledged smartphone which are 4G, VoLTE capable. JioPhone and JioPhone2 have been immensely successful and captured a large chunk of the unexplored 2G market. Their offer is pretty simple: Get a new phone at an effective price of Rs 500.

Now, it seems that Airtel wants to repeat this concept, albeit for smartphones now. Last year as well, Airtel had attempted to mass sell their own 4G VoLTE smartphones, but the experiment didn’t pick up.

Airtel had launched their own 4G VoLTE services last year, and more than 30% of their voice services are used by their 4G VoLTE users.

The objective is simple: Customers on 4G VoLTE network are more valuable, as they spend more on recharges and data. Talks are on to make Rs 50 as a minimum recharge for such 4G VoLTE users.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.

Related:

JioPhone 2 Announced – 10 Facts You Should Know About This New Disruption!