Vodafone Idea Launches ₹1,149 Prepaid Plan With 180 Days Validity: All Details Inside

Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), India(BHARAT)’s third-largest telco, has launched a prepaid plan with 180 days validity for ₹1,149 . The prepaid plan is for users that want more than minimal-validity prepaid plans, but less than annual plans.

As usual with longer validity plans, this is a voice-centric plan. It offers a voice-first experience to customers.

What the plan offers?

Vi’s new ₹1,149 plan with 180 days validity offers the following:

• Unlimited voice calls
• 1,800 SMS (local + STD, each)
• 20 GB of data

Validity for the voice, SMS and data benefits is six months.

The plan levies ₹0.50 for each MB after the 20 GB data limit is exhausted.

SMS cost (if more than 1,800 are sent):

Local SMS: ₹1/SMS or ₹1.50/SMS (circle-based variation)
STD SMS: ₹1/SMS or ₹1.50/SMS (circle-based variation)

What this translates to, in real terms, is a per-day rate of about ₹6.38.

Why the offer matters?

The plan is an example of a “long validity” plan.

Long validity plans are so named because of the length of the validity. Such plans last a longer time than most standard prepaid recharge plans.

Vi launching a ₹1,149 plan with 180 days validity gives us at least three important things to note:

* The first is that Vi is using a long validity to encourage customers to pick “set it and forget it” prepaid recharge plans that offer long validity, rather than recharge every week/month or use minimal-validity plans.
* The focus on unlimited voice (rather than “big data”) shows that Vi is squarely targeting the user that only needs a secondary SIM for voice/SMS/data in a limited capacity.
* Six months of validity, with no obligation to recharge, also creates stickiness with the customer and lower overheads.

In other words, Vi’s new ₹1,149 plan with 180 days validity is essentially for users that have very light data requirements and want calls/SMS to last as long as possible.

How it compares?

Vi has other longer validity plans as well. For example, Vi offers a ₹2,249 plan (validity: 365 days/1 year) that is essentially the “double” of the ₹1,149 plan. That is:

• Unlimited voice
• 3,600 SMS (local + STD, each)
• 40 GB of data

The new ₹1,149 prepaid plan is the “smaller brother” to the ₹2,249 plan. It is the light version.

The ₹2,249 plan is for users who want the same benefits as the ₹1,149 plan, but who also want double data and SMS.

What to watch?

The ₹1,149 plan’s long-validity angle works well for it. However, its 20 GB data is very light.

As such, it is not a “data heavy user” plan — at least not if the user watches videos, plays games or connects multiple devices.

The new ₹1,149 plan with 180 days validity is a “low-data” plan. Users who are above average in data consumption will have to top up with data vouchers. Vi’s customers can always purchase data vouchers to top up data on existing connections, when needed.

It is also interesting to note that Vi’s new ₹1,149 plan with 180 days validity comes with no additional features like unlimited data, night-time data, or special bonus data offerings. Competitors sometimes include such features in other prepaid plans.

Implications for Vi and the market

With its new ₹1,149 plan with 180 days validity, Vi has shown its intent to offer more such voice-centric, long-validity prepaid plans.

The move may also be an attempt to win over users that currently keep multiple SIMs active, but will likely choose a low-cost Vi SIM because of the longer validity.

Long-duration plans like these give telcos like Vi a way to lock users into their service for the duration and reduce churn.

The broader implication is that it reflects Vi’s play in a crowded market where operators are battling for ARPU growth and customer retention. A six-month validity, if adopted by the customer, makes users less likely to leave the telco. They are also likely to use data vouchers, buy value-added services or top up as and when required for the six-month duration. In this way, even as the upfront cost is taken care of, the telco also benefits from keeping the customer engaged in the longer term.

To sum up, Vi’s ₹1,149, 180-day prepaid plan is a straightforward, easy-to-understand offering.

Unlimited voice, 1,800 SMS and 20 GB data, for ₹1,149 , with 180 days validity.
Validity is six months
Per day equivalent cost: ₹6.38

It is targeted at the voice-dominant customer who wants voice/SMS/data to last for as long as possible. The plan can also be used by heavier data users as a base plan, to be supplemented with data vouchers as required.

Overall, it is a smart and tactical offering by Vi that should allow it to lock in a good number of users for the six-month period.