India, Oct. 22 -- Opening thoughts. A few days ago, there was some excitement about a Vi prepaid family plan. This is essentially the first of its kind in India, but it's a concept familiar to postpaid users who have increasingly bundled multiple connections into a family plan to save some money. That was my expectation when I heard about the Vi prepaid family plan. Alas, as you understand most things, this becomes more an exercise in wondering what really was the need for this prepaid collective? I'll explain why.

Three key elements define the Vi prepaid family plan proposition, which can hold up to four members.

Basically, this is an attempt by Vi to add stickiness and loyalty to the prepaid connection proposition (loyalty is usually ...