Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea Offer OTT Subscriptions with Recharges - Details Inside

India's big three telecom service providers - Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, are all offering OTT subscriptions bundled in with specific recharges. Prepaid users can benefit from subscriptions such as Disney+Hotstar VIP, Wynk Music Premium and so on with select recharges.

Here is a list of all the currently available recharges for each of the operator with OTT benefits.

Reliance Jio Recharge Plans with OTT Benefits

India's largest telecom operator in terms of subscribers, the Mukesh Ambani-led telco offers 4 recharges. These plans are also called "Jio Cricket Plans", particularly because all of these plans were created with IPL in mind. These recharges are as follows:

1. Rs. 401 Plan:  This is the cheapest plan on offer that offers any OTT benefits. This plan offers a one year subscription of Disney+Hotstar. Also, this plan offers normal recharge benefits such as 3 GB/day, along with an extra 6GB chipped in for good measure. Jio also offers a complimentary subscription to its apps. Reliance Jio also offers 28 days of validity, unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day in this plan.
2. Rs. 598 Plan: This plan is similar to the previous one in the OTT benefits, as it also offers 1 year of Disney+Hotstar VIP. Apart from that, this plan gives the users usual data benefits; 2 GB/day for 56 days. Further, Reliance Jio offers a complimentary subscription to its Jio apps in the plan, too. This plan comes with unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day.
3. Rs. 777 Plan: Again, the OTT benefits remain the same - 1 year of Disney+Hotstar. However, this plan further reduces the daily limit to only 1.5 GB/day. But the plan has a validity of 84 days, and also provides additional 5GB of data with it. Unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day also remain as per the previous plans, so does the complimentary Jio apps subscription.
4. Rs. 2,599 Plan: This is the most expensive plan that offers OTT benefits from Reliance Jio. The plan comes with the same OTT benefits as all the other plans. However, this particular plan lasts for 365 days and offers 2 GB/day with 10GB extra. Along with that, the plan comes with unlimited voice, 100 SMS/day and complimentary Jio apps subscription.

Reliance Jio Data Voucher Plans with OTT Benefits

Weirdly enough, there are a few plans listed under 4G Data voucher on the telco's website that offer Disney+Hotstar subscription. Even further weirdly enough, these plans offer arguably better bang for the buck. However, these plans offer no voice or SMS benefits, so you may have to go for a top-up along with these.

1. Rs. 499 Plan: This plan offers almost the same benefits as the Rs. 401 plan. The key differences are that it offers only 1.5 GB data per day and is valid for 84 days.
2. Rs. 612 Plan: This plan only offers 12 vouchers of 6GB each, taking the total to 72GB data for the plan. Also, it is an add-on to the ongoing plan, so there is no extra validity to be had here either. However, it does offer Disney+Hotstar VIP for a year.
3. Rs. 1004 Plan: As such, this is a rather convoluted plan. For starters, it offers 200GB total data, which is good. However, it does so over 4 cycles of 30 days each, giving the user 50GB data to use per cycle. So, this plan is also an add-on plan with a Disney+Hotstar VIP subscription.
4. Rs. 1206 Plan: The cycle theme continues with this plan too, as it offers a total 240GB data to the user, in 6 cycles of 30 days each. That makes it 40GB per cycle. This plan also comes with the same OTT benefits.
5. Rs. 1208 Plan: What if you say, "man I really wish that I had less data per cycle and more overall cycles"? Well, Jio heard you loud and clear, and for just 2 bucks more, you get your wish. This is the exact same plan as the previous one - it just offers 30GB per cycle and 8 overall cycles, for 240GB total data. And the Disney+Hotstar VIP as well.

Bharti Airtel Recharge Plans with OTT Benefits

India's second largest telecom operator offers two types of OTT benefits - Disney+Hotstar VIP and Wynk Music Premium. Just like Reliance Jio, Airtel also offers some 4G Add-on Vouchers with OTT benefits. Here is a list of the recharge plans with offer OTT benefits:

1. Rs. 448 Plan: This is the cheapest recharge plan from Airtel that offers any OTT benefits. With this plan, a user gets 1 year of Disney+Hotstar, along with 3GB/day data for 28 days. This plan is the same as the Rs. 401 plan offered by Reliance Jio - the only difference being that it does not offer subscription to anything else and does not offer extra data. This plan also offers unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day.
2. Rs. 599 Plan: This plan offers the same OTT benefits as the previous plan. The key difference comes in Data benefits - this plan offers 2GB/day of FUP limit, and is valid for 56 days. Along with that, it offers unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day.
3. Rs. 2698 Plan: This is the most expensive plan in this category, but it is valid for 365 days, and offers unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day. This plan also comes with a year of Disney+Hotstar VIP.

Bharti Airtel Data Voucher Plans with OTT Benefits

Just like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel also - weirdly enough - offer add-on plans with OTT benefits. These plans do not offer any voice or SMS benefits, only data add-ons. All of these plans are as follows:

1. Rs. 78 Plan: This is the cheapest plan thus far with any OTT benefits from any telco. For this much, a user gets 5GB add-on data to their existing plan, along with 30 days of Wynk Music Premium.
2. Rs. 248 Plan: This plan is also an add-on plan. It gives the user 25GB of additional data added to their current plan, along with a year of Wynk Music Premium bundled in the plan.
3. Rs. 401 Plan: This plan gives the user 30GB of additional data to use in their current plan. However, this plan bundles in a year of Disney+Hotstar VIP subscription.

Vodafone Idea Recharge Plans with OTT Benefits

Vodafone Idea holds an edge over the last two in terms of data plus OTT plans. Their edge lies in the fact they offer unlimited data from 12 AM to 6 AM to their users, called Binge All Night. In India, most of the users who consume OTT content usually download their shows and movies. Therefore, Binge All Night lets users put entire seasons on download overnight.

Along with this, Vodafone Idea also offers weekend data rollover on many of their recharges. That means that all the unused data from Monday to Friday gets rolled over to Saturday and Sunday.

The recharge plans are as follows:

1. Rs. 401 Plan: This pack might as well be the best out of the bunch around this price segment. For 401 bucks, a Vi user gets 3GB/day data, with an extra 16GB data chipped in, for 28 days. Along with all this data, this plan offers Weekend Rollover and Binge All Night - the 12-6 unlimited data. Also, the plan offers a cool 1 year of Disney+Hotstar VIP and its own Vi Movies and TV VIP-access.  The plan also offers unlimited voice and 100 SMS per day.
2. Rs. 405 Plan: Vi is offering a year of Zee5 Premium with this plan, along with Vi Movies and TV VIP-access, 90GB lump sum data, unlimited voice, 100 SMS/day and Binge All Night. All for 28 days.
3. Rs. 595 Plan: This plan is a similar plan to the one above it, except that it is valid for 56 days, bothers to give per day FUP limit of 2GB to the user, and also bundles in Weekend Data Rollover.
4. Rs. 601 Plan: This plan is exactly the same as the Rs. 401 plan, apart from the fact that it offers the same services for 56 days.
5. Rs. 795 Plan: This is the exact same pack as is Rs. 595 plan in terms of benefits, apart from the fact that it is valid for 84 days.
6. Rs. 801 Plan: Again, this pack is the same as the Rs. 401 Plan, with Disney+Hotstar VIP, 3GB data per day, plus an additional 48GB data, Vi Movies and TV VIP-access, unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day. This plan is valid for 84 days.
7. Rs. 1197 Plan: This plan offers the user 1.5GB data per day for 180 days, along with a year of Zee5 Premium. Also, this pack bundles in Vi Movies and TV Classic-access, along with Weekend Data Rollover and Binge All Night. The plan also gives the user unlimited voice and 100 SMS/day.
8. Rs. 2399 Plan: This is one of the two yearly prepaid recharges from Vodafone Idea. This plan bundles in a year of Zee5 Premium, along with Vi Movies and TV Classic-access as OTT benefits. Apart from that, it offers the users 1.5 GB/day, unlimited voice, 100 SMS/day, along with Weekend Data Rollover and Binge All Night.
9. Rs. 2595 Plan: The second yearly plan from Vi, it is exactly the same in terms of voice, SMS and data benefits, apart from the fact that it offers a year of Disney+Hotstar VIP.

Vodafone Idea Data Voucher Plans with OTT Benefits

The third largest telco in India does offer data add-on plans with OTT benefits. This is an interesting trend, don't mind the lack of normalcy. However, there are two such plans Vi offers, and these are:

1. Rs. 355 Plan: This plan gives the user 50GB of additional data for 28 days, along with a year of Zee5 Premium Subscription.
2. Rs. 501 Plan: This pack offers 75 GB additional data for 56 days, and a year of Disney+Hotstar Premium.

The Best of the Bunch

I have to hand it to Vodafone Idea - the variety of OTT plans is amazing, particularly in recharges. Reliance Jio's plans are basically the same with increasing validity and decreasing FUP limit and overall data a user gets. Bharti Airtel's plans were also pretty much the same as Reliance Jio.

The fact that Vodafone Idea brings data rollover and unlimited nighttime data use gives them such a great edge in this particular segment. Like I mentioned previously, a significant number of people who consume OTT content prefer to download it than stream it, and Vi's Binge All Night becomes a game changer for the telco.

For me, here's a clear winner - Vodafone Idea.