 "A man speaks on his mobile phone as he sits in front of a shop displaying the Idea Cellular Ltd's logo on its shutter in Mumbai")
Following Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, Idea Cellular has also reached out to dealers, explaining how its network is better than Reliance Jio’s and that the tariffs announced by Jio are more propaganda than bona fide.
The move by the top three mobile operators is to retain their high-value customers by clearing the air around Jio launch and how their tariffs and networks are better compared to the latest entrant in the telecom market. Incidentally, the presentations by the three operators are similar in format and design, clearly indicative of a fight between them and Jio.
“The voice services for Jio are experiencing high congestion. Since you are a high-value customer, this will impact your business,” Idea cautioned dealers.
Idea said it is the second-largest data operator across India and its plans start at Rs 5, compared to Rs 149 for Jio. Also, its night timings are 12 am to 6 am, compared to 2 am to 5 am for Jio.
Regarding the much-talked about charge of Rs 50 per GB, Idea said Jio is not offering the rates in any mobile plan; the lowest rate being offered is Rs 67 per GB.
Also, voice users need to cough up a minimum of Rs 149, whereas data users need to pay a minimum of Rs 499.
“Idea provides the best value for money to its customers, with plans ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 2,499,” the Mumbai-based mobile operator told dealers.
To avail free voice calls on the Jio network, Idea said one has to subscribe to a data plan and the telco does not offer a fallback option. This, in effect, means at places where 4G coverage is not present, no voice calls can be made.
Moreover, one needs to have a 4G handset that supports VoLTE in case of Jio to make calls, whereas there is no such restriction when it comes to Idea.
