Airtel has been rationalizing the offers, which was often compared with Jio. Well, In an interview with TOI, Gopal Vittal, CEO, Airtel said;
More than 80% of the industry’s revenue still comes from voice. Voice can never be made free for customers who do not use data.
Jio had a high impact on Indian consumers with their purely cheap and affordable offers, which has in turn given them millions of new customers within few months of their official launch.
►Talking about the aftermath of Jio’s launch, Gopal Vittal said;
Pricing has come under a lot of pressure. Jio has started with a lot of free stuff as the part of tariff plans. He continued saying that, the game of free plans and offers was played earlier by Docomo with per-second based pricing. He said Airtel is obsessed about customers, not with the competition.
ALSO READ: Airtel: Unlimited Data For 90 Days For Rs 1,495
► when asked about free calls from Airtel?
Gopal Vittal replied saying, More than 80% of the industry’s revenue comes from voice. He continued by saying that he believes in two market areas, a large set of customers uses and looks for voice and data separately. You can’t make voice calls free for a person who doesn’t pay for anything.
He specified saying, Nothing is free forever and we will have voice plans for them. At the upper end of the market, you may see bundles where one service is made free and the other service is priced. So, voice cannot be made free for somebody who does not use data, You have to charge for something.
What do you guys think about Airtel’s approach towards Jio’s competition? Which side do you fall in? Let us know all your thoughts in the comment section below and don’t forget to react.
