Reliance Jio Postpaid Plans Unlikely To Affect Airtel And Vodafone-Idea Subscriber Base

Recently, Reliance Jio has launched four postpaid plans in the country. These plans are quite affordable and offer a good amount of data in comparison to other operators. However, these plans are unlikely to affect the Airtel subscriber base as postpaid users are not price sensitive.

India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio has launched plans between Rs. 399 and Rs. 1,499. A new report by ICICI Securities said Airtel wasn't affected by Reliance Jio's prepaid plans. The firm also highlighted that Reliance Jio needs to come up with a low-end smartphone to retain its feature phone users. Notably, the company is serving 100 million feature phone users, and their retention its Jio's major priority.

"Therefore, low-end smartphones will come either with limited subsidy on the handset and affordable tariffs, or a deep discount on the handset but higher ARPU commitment," ICICI Securities said in its note.

The recent note comes after Reliance Jio plans to introduce affordable smartphones in India. The company is likely to bring affordable smartphones by the end of this year. In fact, there are chances that upcoming handsets might offer free data. However, the report pointed out that the company will also offer subsidies on smartphones.

"Operators may wait for clarity on floor price as its implementation in their favor may pave way for the next tariff hike, which would be sustainable, and provide level playing ground for Bharti and VIL," ICICI Securities added in a note.

Meanwhile, the company is planning to launch three smartphones in the country. The upcoming smartphones are likely to be known as the Orbic Myra 5G, Orbic Magic 5G, and the Orbic Maui. Furthermore, these three smartphones will run the Android 10 operating system. In addition, these smartphones will have a 5G and 4G network.