Airtel steps up fight against Jio with unlimited 5G data offer

PTI

New Delhi, March 17

Bharti Airtel has rolled out unlimited data offer for 5G users in 4G plans starting from Rs 239 onward.

Today’s move from the telecom operator comes to match its rival Jio, which is offering unlimited 5G data access during the beta trials during the network rollout.

“This introductory offer is in line with the philosophy of wanting our customers to be able to surf, stream, chat and enjoy multiple benefits at blazing speeds without having to worry about data limits. We hope our customers enjoy the power of world-class Airtel 5G Plus,” Bharti Airtel, Director Consumer Business, Shashwat Sharma said in a statement.

The Airtel 5G Plus service is available to customers in over 270 cities in the country. The company has plans to cover every town and key rural areas with 5G services by the end of March 2024.

Airtel has kept no fair usage policy (FUP) for 5G users like it has for 4G plans. Under FUP, telecom operators reduce data speed to 64 kilobit per second after the daily data limit of customers ends.

“Customers will now be able to experience ultrafast, reliable and secure 5G Plus services without having to worry about data exhaustion as the company removes the capping on data usage across all existing plans,” the statement said.

Airtel claims that its 5G Plus service has up to 30 times higher speed than 4G.

At present, Airtel 5G Plus service is available in over 270 cities. However, one must have a 5G compatible phone to be able to use this service and also be in a 5G compatible area. Alongside this, even Reliance Jio 5G services have spread quickly across the country.