Jio effect: Reliance Comm. launches unlimited voice-calling plans at Rs149

Taking a lesson or two from big brother’s telecom venture Reliance Jio, Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications (RCOM) has launched '149 Unlimited' calling plan, bundled with 300 MB of data

which will offer customers unlimited calling talk-time to any phone on any telecom network across the country, including STDs, at just Rs 149 per month.

Though, RCom’s Rs 149 bucket plan looks very similar to Jio’s base tariff plan, but there is a welcome change here. RCom’s plan can be activated on any phone – 2G, 3G, or 4G -- unlike Jio’s, which requires a 4G VoLTE handset.

"There are still hundreds of millions of older 2G handset-owners in India, and RCOM is positioning the unique plan to migrate these customers to its network, along with 300 MB of data usage. And with RCOM's high-speed add-on data plans, '149 Unlimited' will also appeal to data-heavy 3G-4G customers, who will benefit from unlimited calling talk-time," the company said in a statement.

“The new unlimited plan is set to change the dynamics of mobile recharges in India, as customers move away from a traditional revenue per minute tariff model to a service subscription model based on ARPU,” said RCom’s co-CEO, Gurdeep Singh in an official statement.

"Our unlimited plan will see millions of Indians benefit, and help RCOM ramp up its customer base and engage with higher-value customers and greater ARPUs (average revenue per users)," he added.