Idea to sell 2G, 3G, 4G mobile data at same price from March end

Due to stiff competition in the market from Reliance Jio, the 4G mobile data service of Idea is significantly cheaper than 2G service.

Telecom operator Idea Cellular will start selling 1GB and above mobile data plans across its 2G, 3G and 4G network at same price by the end of this month.

A man speaks on his mobile phone as he sits in front of a shop displaying Idea(Reuters photo)

“Idea has now announced that it will allow open market data recharges of 1GB and above to work on Idea’s 2G, 3G or 4G network without any differential prices and this will be rolled out nationally by March 31, 2017,” Idea said in a statement.

At present, Idea mobile internet plans are priced at different rates. Due to stiff competition in the market from Reliance Jio, the 4G mobile data service of Idea is significantly cheaper than 2G service.

Idea sells 1GB of 2G service with about a month validity for around Rs 170 and 4G is priced around Rs 123.

Earlier, the high speed data plans were priced higher based on their download speed.

“Customer can choose the recharge price basis usage and volume available in pack, without having to worry about the platform the customer’s device is logged in,” Idea Cellular Chief Marketing Officer Sashi Shankar said.

Idea will bring all data product categories like sachets, freedom packs to unified pricing and will be rolled out nationally in phases by May 31.

“As Idea’s pan India broadband coverage continues to expand and reduces gap with existing 2G coverage which covers 4 lakh towns and villages, customers can now seamlessly migrate services between technology & platform without worrying about differential costs,” Shankar said.

The data limit in high speed internet plans gets exhausted in less time compared to that on slow speed network like 2G.