Data rates fall further as Jio intensifies war

Reliance Jio has unleashed yet another price war in the New Year, reducing data tariff by up to 25%. The Mukesh Ambani-owned company has reduced rates by Rs 50 across its all 1GB plans.  

In what is the lowest-ever industry tariff, its 1GB monthly pack is priced at Rs 149.  

For its 1.5GB plans, Jio has increased the data limit by 50% while keeping the rates intact. In percentage terms, the rate cut ranges between 8 on the 91-day validity pack to 25 on the 28-day validity pack.

The company's flagship Rs 399 plan will now provide 20% additional data with a validity of two additional weeks, increasing the current validity from 70 to 84 days.

The rate cuts come into effect from January 9.   Company sources said Jio might consider further rate cuts in the course of the year to consolidate the market.

Of 118.30 mobile users across the country, Jio has gained a user base of 13.9 crores (11.7%) in just 14 months since its inception in August 2016.  

Jio is the fourth largest telecom operator across the country, with the combined share of the top four being 27.7%.  

The price war begun by Jio has severely dented the revenues of the other telecom companies.

The top six telecom companies - Airtel, Aircel, BSNL, Idea, Vodafone and Reliance Communications (RComm) - have collectively seen a decline of about 20% in their revenues over the past year.