This year, Bharti Airtel is looking to raise mobile phone call and data rates across all plans, said Sunil Bharti Mittal, the telecom firm’s Chairman.
A Need Of Tariff Hike
Notably, the telecom increased the price of its minimum recharge or the entry-level for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 per cent to Rs 155 in eight circles last month.
While talking on the need for a tariff hike when the company’s balance sheet is healthy during Mobile World Congress (MWC) on Monday, Mittal said the return on capital in the telecom business is very low and a tariff hike is expected this year.
Adding, “It (tariff hike) will happen across the board. The company has injected a lot of capital that has made the balance sheet strong but the return on capital in the industry is very low.”
“That needs to change. We are talking of small increments that need to come in the Indian tariff situation. I hope it happens this year,” he said.
According to him, the hike is low compared to the spending people are making on other things.
Need For A Robust Telecom Company
Mittal noted, “Salaries have gone up, rents have gone up except for one thing. There is no one complaining. People are consuming 30 GB for almost nothing. We don’t have more Vodafone (Idea) type of scenarios in the country. We need a robust telecom company in the country. The dream of India is digital, economic growth is fully realized. I think the government is fully conscious, the regulator is conscious and people are also very conscious,”.
It is noteworthy here that the telecom stopped its minimum recharge plan of Rs 99, under which it offered 200 MB of data and calls at the rate of Rs 2.5 paise per second.
The company’s short-term ARPU target of Airtel is Rs 200 further focusing on a medium to long-term ARPU target of Rs 300 through price hikes for sustainable operations.
On the subject of the impact of inflation and global macroeconomic situation on the company, Mittal said India is moving very fast and India’s focus on economy and infrastructure is paying rich dividends to the companies.
Earlier, Bharti Airtel increased the price of its minimum recharge or the entry-level for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 percent to Rs 155 in eight circles last month.
