Airtel 4G packs now available at 3G rates

In its bids to attract more subscribers, Bharti Airtel has decided to reduce its 4G Internet charges starting today. This move comes in as the mobile service provider attempts at improving its subscriber base for the fourth-generation wireless broadband services.

Airtel will offer 4G speeds at 3G price-points to make fourth generation wireless broadband services more affordable and stiffen the challenge for new competition, said a top company executive. Last week, the company had cut down the rates of its 2G service by nearly 90 percent in the states of Punjab and Haryana. This move was initiated as the company, which enjoys the biggest customer base, found it difficult to add customers to its group as compared to its closest competitors, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, in the recent past.

As per the revised tariff plan, the base price for 4G services on Airtel, which is available in Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh, will come down to Rs 450. Customers could now avail 3GB and 4GB of data at a faster 4G speeds by paying Rs 450 and Rs 750 per month respectively. This would mean that a subscriber in Pune could avail a 3GB data plan at 4G speed by paying Rs 450, which would make it cheaper than the 3G pack available at Rs 675.

But the customers who avail the low end packs won’t be allowed to access Airtel’s entertainment library, as it will be reserved for customers on higher data plans – i.e., data plans of Rs 999 and above. Airtel’s entertainment library is developed in partnership with BIGFlix and Indiagames and offers nearly 1,000 different movies and games belonging to different genres. At the top end, customers who avail the Rs 2,999 and Rs 4,799 plans will be offered a free usage limits of 45GB and 80GB – an addition to the earlier levels of 30GB and 50GB respectively.

As Airtel attempts at increasing its customer base by reducing its 4G data rates, many still doubt if the move to offer 4G services at 3G rates and cheaper will actually result in higher data usage or help expand its modest 4G subscriber base as the service is limited to only four cities in the country.