Airtel has rolled out a prepaid recharge plan that offers unlimited calling and data benefits at INR 119. To recall, the telco introduced an INR 99 prepaid recharge plan earlier, that offered the same benefits. The new INR 119 prepaid recharge plan is a segmented offering and the incentives would vary for different users. For instance, those who use the Airtel SIM as their secondary connection will get the most out of the prepaid recharge plan. Read on to know the full benefits of the new prepaid recharge offering from Airtel.
Airtel INR 119 Prepaid Recharge Plan Benefits
Under the new recharge plan, Airtel is offering 2GB of 4G/3G/2G data, unlimited local, STD and national roaming calls, with no FUP constraints along with 300 SMSes for the entire validity period, that is 28 days. Since the offer is segmented, some users will get 1GB of 4G/3G/2G data, unlimited calls, and 300 SMSes for a period of 14 days.
Earlier, Airtel’s Rs. 99 prepaid recharge plan used to offer the same benefits as the new Rs. 119 prepaid recharge, but the telco has not discontinued it yet. Instead, the INR 99 plan now offers 1GB of data, unlimited voice calls along with 300 SMS. The plan carried a validity of 10 days. It is worth noting that the INR 99 prepaid recharge plan does not offer segmented offers anymore.
Similar Recharge Plans from Other Telcos
Airtel’s INR 99 plan was primarily launched to take on Reliance Jio‘s INR 98 prepaid recharge plan that offers 2GB of 4G data, unlimited voice calls, with no FUP limits along with 300 SMSes. The entry-level prepaid recharge plan from Jio comes with a validity of 28 days. In addition to this, the subscribers also get a complimentary access to the Jio suite of apps.
Vodafone also has a recharge plan worth INR 99, but the prepaid plan is voice-only. With INR 99 Vodafone plan, the prepaid subscriber will enjoy unlimited voice calls (local, roaming, and STD) for a period of 28 days.
This recharge plan from Vodafone is aimed at users who are looking for more calling benefits than data incentives. However, the plan does not offer a great validity period. In its defense, the plan was rolled out a couple months back and it successfully rivals similar plans from other telcos. Recently, the telecom industry has witnessed a paradigm shift as the telcos are aggressively rolling out long-validity plans, aimed at users with high calling needs. Coming back to the INR 99 prepaid plan from Vodafone, the telco has capped the calling minutes in the unlimited calling benefit with this plan as well. The daily call limit has been set to 250 minutes, while the weekly calling is limited to 1,000 minutes.
State-run telco BSNL also introduced an INR 99 prepaid recharge plan, which is also a voice-only plan. The plan carries a validity of 28 days. With the INR 99 plan, a prepaid BSNL subscriber can make unlimited voice calls (local and roaming) across India except for the Mumbai and Delhi circles. Besides the unlimited voice calls benefit, the INR 99 prepaid recharge plan from BSNL offers free PRBT services for the entire validity period.
Although there is no voice caping as such, this plan has its own downside. The BSNL INR 99 prepaid recharge plan does not offer any SMS and data benefits or services in the Delhi and Mumbai circles.
In comparison, Airtel packs 2GB data, unlimited voice calls along with SMS benefits.
