Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel both now provide users in India with smartphone offers. But they are not enough. Both the private telecom operators are trying to gain a larger market share and also trying to maximise revenues. Reliance Jio’s aim is to turn India into a ‘2G Mukt’ country. But in order to do that, there should be an ultra-affordable 4G smartphone available. The JioPhone offers are good, but they are not what everyone wants. Most people today don’t want a feature device anymore, regardless of it being cheap. The JioPhone Next offer from Reliance Jio should help a little, but just to what extent it will benefit the country is something that remains to be seen.
Bharti Airtel Smartphone Offer Won’t Help in Converting 2G/3G Customers to 4G
Just like the JioPhone offer from Reliance Jio couldn’t convert India into a ‘2G Mukt’ country, the smartphone offer from Bharti Airtel won’t help in doing the same. Airtel’s offer is mainly geared towards maximising revenues for the company. This is because Airtel is pushing subscribers to recharge with at least Rs 249 plan or more and get a smartphone for doing the same. Because of the costs involved, the low-income customers who are on 2G/3G networks won’t be motivated to shift to 4G networks. However, for normal consumers, these offers are good. JioPhone offer has clearly made a positive impact in the country. The Airtel offer is also going to push some people who can afford smartphones in the Rs 10,000 range to earn cashbacks worth Rs 6,000. What’s unclear at the moment is whether this cashback will be a direct benefit transferred to the bank account of the user or whether it will be recharge benefits, etc. Jio and Airtel are both offering very unique smartphone offers, and it will be interesting to look at what impact the JioPhone Next has on the company’s books. What do you think about the smartphone offers from the two telcos?
