Telecom Companies Reduce Prepaid Voice Packs Validity
I was having a discussion with one of my ex-colleagues when he shared that they have been struggling to increase the Voice revenue. Moreover, it is due to the launch of the unlimited packs by JIO.
The opportunities to push-up customer ARPU and Realization rate are limited, due to the aggressive competition from JIO.
In fact, I observed, to make up for the lost revenue, companies are trying different things. And one of these is to reduce the validity of voice packs in select circles from 28 days to 27 days.
Notably, the unlimited packs still have a validity of 28 days. However, the validity for Bulk minute packs and rate cutter’s is reduced, to increase revenue.
Airtel and Idea have been trying the 27 days validity packs in some of the circles like Haryana, Punjab, UP-E, Himachal Pradesh.
Some of the Packs from Airtel and Idea whose validity is trimmed are as follows:
Airtel Voice Packs – Validity Reduction.
| Airtel Voice Products Validity Reduction. | ||||
| Circle | MRP | Product Description | Current Validity | Old Validity |
| UPE | Rs 9 | All Local Calls 35 p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| UPE | Rs 21 | All Local Calls 30 p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| UPE | Rs 35 | All Local and STD calls 30 p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| UPE | Rs 197 | 500 local+ STD minutes | 27 days | 28 days |
| Haryana | Rs 16 | All STD Calls @25p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| Haryana | Rs 26 | All local/ STD calls @ 30p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| Haryana | Rs 199 | 40000 Local + STD Sec | 27 days | 28 days |
| Punjab | Rs 16 | Local + National Calls @ 1p/sec | 27 days | 28 days |
Idea Voice Packs – Validity Reduction.
| Idea Voice Products Validity Reduction. | ||||
| Circle | MRP | Product Description | Current Validity | Old Validity |
| HP | Rs 19 | Local + STD @ 30p/min *Telescopic | 27 days | 28 days |
| HP | Rs 94 | 600 local Idea Mins | 27 days | 28 days |
| HP | Rs 95 | 350 Local STD Mins | 27 days | 28 days |
| Haryana | Rs 24 | All local Calls @ 30p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| Haryana | Rs 29 | Local Idea calls @ 10p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
| Haryana | Rs 97 | 170 Local Mobile Mins | 27 days | 28 days |
| Punjab | Rs 16 | All Mobile Calls @ 1p/sec | 27 days | 28 days |
| Punjab | Rs 34 | STD Calls @ 25p/min | 27 days | 28 days |
Pack validity and Description Source – Idea and – Airtel Official Website, iReff App.
Bulk Minutes and Rate Cutter Validity Reduction
As shared above, these are some of the voice packs (bulk minutes & rate cutters) whose validity is curtailed from 28 days to 27 days by the telecom operators.
The 27 days validity is applicable for some of the packs, while other packs in the circles still have the 28 days validity.
Notably, the rollout will happen in a phased manner. Some circles launch the plans first. The Implementation depends upon the success rate and consumer reaction.
In a case like this when there is just 1 day of validity reduction, most consumers don’t notice the change.
But such a change can bring in a significant revenue uplift for the telecom operators for the prepaid voice business.
From the consumer perspective, the Validity reduction of packs from 30 days to 28 days was odd and the 27 days validity is even strange.
Telecom operators long back realized that they could easily make more money by reducing the pack validity from the 30 days to 4 weeks (28 days).
Base Rate Revision – A Silent Revenue Earner
Similar to when Telecom operators do a base rate revision. (The Base rate is the calling tariff when you are not on any packs).
There are millions of subscribers who make calls on the base rate (example 1.5p/sec). And when it increases, it has a very significant effect on the top line of telecom operators.
Vodafone has yet not rolled out the validity reduction in any of the circles so far. But they may try it out, to test how customers and revenue respond to the change.
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