Reliance-owned Jio, India's largest telecom operator, has launched new prepaid and postpaid plans. These plans, which will be effective July 3, also come at prices that are 12 per cent to 25 per cent higher than the existing prices.
For instance, the monthly prepaid plans (28 day validity) costing Rs 155, Rs 209 and Rs 239 will cost Rs 189, Rs 249 and Rs 299 respectively.
The prices of monthly plans that are currently available for Rs 299, Rs 349 and Rs 399 have also been increased by Rs 50 for each plan.
Prices of 2-months, 3-months and annual plans have also been raised.
Prices of postpaid plans, too, have gone up from Rs 299 and Rs 399 per billing cycle to Rs 349 and Rs 449 respectively.
Jio's data add-on packs will also now cost more.
"The introduction of new plans is a step in the direction of furthering industry innovation and driving sustainable growth through investments in 5G and AI technology," said Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm.
Jio has said that JioBharat and JioPhone users will continue to enjoy the existing tariffs.
With India’s only standalone True 5G network, Jio continues to provide superlative 5G experience with truly unlimited 5G data on its leading plans at no additional cost to its users, the company said.
Jio has also launched two new services - JioSafe and JioTranslate.
JioSafe is a quantum-secure communication app for calling, messaging, file transfer and more. It has been priced at Rs 199 per month.
JioTranslate is an AI-powered multi-lingual communication app for translating voice call, voice message, text and image. This will cost Rs 99 per month.
Jio users will get both these applications free for a year, the company said.
In the latest spectrum auction held by the government this week, Jio acquired additional spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in Bihar and West Bengal.
"This new spectrum acquisition will continue to enable us serving aspirations of the new India, in terms of growing traffic demands and superior customer experience, which is no longer limited to only urban markets," Ambani had said on Wednesday.
In their latest report on the sector, analysts at JM Financial Institutional Securities said they continue to expect telcos’ ARPU (average revenue per user) to grow at 10-12 per cent compounded annually "given the consolidated industry structure, and Jio’s need for higher ARPU to justify its significant 5G capex and given its potential IPO."
