To increase their user base to 10 million, Reliance Jio announced offered free voice calls, and low cost data plans for customers in India. To counter this offering, other telecom players such as Airtel, Vodafone, and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have announced similar plans to retain their own customer base.
Zee News reports that state-run BSNL will announce zero-voice-tariff plans from January 2017. While Jio’s offering is only for 4G customers, BSNL will be offering the plan for all networks- in 2G, 3G and 4G.
Vodafone has revised its 4G postpaid tariff plans to counter the competition, starting withthe city of Mumbai. (The company has also increased its 3G network services in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, reports the Economic Times.)
Mobile World Live says Bharti Airtel will match Reliance Jio’s data offering for 4G customers, and will offer prepaid customers free data for 90 days. With a 25 percent market share, Airtel will match Jio’s $0.70 per gigabyte offer with a special prepaid data package, according to the Economic Times. But its 90-day free offer only covers data, not voice and text messages.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
