Airtel, Idea shares slip as customers queue for Reliance Jio

The shares of telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were in red again on Tuesday after their biggest rival Reliance Jio was officially launched on Monday.

At 0958 hours the shares of Bharti Airtel were trading at Rs 313.75 per piece, down 1.63%, or Rs 5.20. 

At the same time, the shares of Idea Cellular were trading at Rs 82.75 per piece, down 1.61%, or Rs 1.35.

Though Bharti Airtel's revenue growth in India halve over the next two fiscals, but it has enough room to survive against Jio's entry into the telecom market, S&P Global Ratings had said on Monday, as PTI reported.

Since Thursday, when Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries had announced the launching date of Jio during their Annual General Meeting, the shares of Airtel and Idea were under pressure.

As we reported yesterday, soon after the launch of Jio for all mobile phone users, a long que was noticed outside its stores for free sim cards. The service will offer free voice calling, no roaming charges and the lowest 4G service, among others.

Long queue outside Reliance Store for Reliance Jio free Simcards @ZeeBusiness @reliancejio @LYF_In pic.twitter.com/zsCm0ZYTYW

— aseem manchanda (@aseemmanchanda) September 5, 2016

Apart from this, for Jio users will get a complimentary offer of its apps worth Rs 15,000 to all subscribers for one year (till December 2017). This will include in app charges.

Reliance Jio’s tariff plans start from Rs 199 for a day plan to Rs 4,999 per month plan.

To compete with Jio's "ambitious" tariffs plan, Idea, Vodafone and Airtel are planning tariffs cut and discounts to retain their customers.