Airtel has introduced two 3G/4G recharge packs worth Rs 748 and Rs 1498 which offer 1GB data valid for 28 days. After this data limit has been reached, Airtel has 2 more packs priced at Rs 51 and Rs 99 for 1GB 3G/4G data without an expiry date, which can be "topped up" of sorts to the previous data pack. This can be done for 6-12 months. These plans are live in the Delhi circle currently and Airtel plans to roll out to other circles by the end of this month. Airtel’s announcement comes a week after TRAI increased maximum of validity of all special tariff voucher (STV) recharge packs to 365 days in this month. From a user point of view, these packs do not seem to offer anything new, other than the fact that a user is paying a huge sum for a 1GB data recharge to get a pseudo subsidy on the following Rs 51 and Rs 99 recharges. However, the subsidy is also not a real one, given that every time a user runs out of that allocated 1GB, they will have to recharge again, essentially spending Rs 561 (Rs 51 x 11 months) and Rs 1089 (Rs 99 x 11 months) yearly, if they use 1GB per month. The Rs 748 and Rs 1498 "booster packs" basically extend the validity of a data recharge for up to 1 year, but that is it. Essentially, users will spend Rs 1309 (Rs 561 + Rs 748) and Rs 2587…
