Reliance Jio Infocomm announced its new Postpaid service, which will be available for subscription starting May 15.
Jio, known for its extremely low prices has launched plans starting at Rs 199 per month, which will include 25 GB of data, free access to all Jio apps and international calls at Rs 50 paise a minute. It also offers international roaming at Rs 2 for every minute of voice, every MB of data and each text message. There is also an option of opting for unlimited services starting at Rs 500 a day (plus taxes).
JioPostpaid has also introduced, what it calls, ‘zero-touch service experience’, where all these postpaid services including international calling with be pre-activated. According to a statement from the company, there are also features such as auto-pay.
The JioPostpaid plan seems to lay an emphasis on its international roaming plan. As per the company, the postpaid service offers a one-click activation of International Roaming services, after which a users gets unlimited data and voice packs, at what it claims are the lowest rates across the world, even without opting for any pack.
Even as telecom incumbents continue to struggle to stay afloat post the launch of Jio, JioPostpaid could shake things up further in the Indian telecom industry.
In fact, the stocks of its rivals Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular opened nearly 3% down each on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday following the announcement of JioPostpaid.
On BSE, Bharti Airtel's stock was down 4.14% to Rs 395 as of 10 15 am, while Idea Cellular's scrip was also down 5.74% to Rs 55 at 10 15 am.
While postpaid users don’t make up for much of a telecom player’s customer base, they are known to bring in more revenue than an average pre-paid user. And postpaid services and international calling have been a healthy source of revenue streams for telecom players such Airtel and Idea. With Jio disrupting this area as well, incumbents are set to face increased pressure.