Airtel, Jio, Vodafone Losing Rs 2.5 Crore Per Hour Due To Internet Shutdowns: Will Govt Stop This Bleeding?

The unrest caused by the Citizenship Amendment Act has resulted in the shut down of the internet services in various parts of the country. 

This has obviously led to telecom operators in India facing huge losses in their business, and that too, on a daily, no, hourly basis. 

The losses that have been recorded by the companies are, for the lack of a better word, huge! 

How much have the telecom companies suffered? Read on to find out!

Internet Shutdown Results In Heavy Losses For Telecom Operators

While the Government and security agencies have reasoned that internet shutdown is necessary so that rumours and memes don’t spread around on social media in this already sensitive hour, the losses are suffered by telecom operators.

A lobby group that represents mobile service providers, the COAI, claimed that the companies have lost as much as $350,000 (Rs 2.4 crore) for every hour of an internet shutdown. There is no internet in various parts of India, such as Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mangaluru in Karnataka, parts of Delhi and over 20 districts in Uttar Pradesh.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said, “We’ve highlighted the cost of these shutdowns. According to our computation at the end of 2019, with the increase in online activities, we believe the cost (of internet shutdowns) is close to 24.5 million rupees for an hour of internet shutdown.”

Vodafone Idea Records Highest Ever Loss In The Country

According to Swedish telecoms gearmaker Ericsson.Indians use up as much as an average of 9.8 gigabyte of data per month, and our country is at the top of the list, where internet consumption is concerned. 

As per reports, Vodafone Idea has clocked in the highest loss in the country ever, which is as much as Rs 50,921 crore, in November. Bharti Airtel has recorded a loss of Rs. 23,045 crore, which is the company’s highest ever loss in the same month. We already know about Vodafone Idea Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla declare that the company will soon shut down.

Moreover, the internet in Kashmir has been shutdown in Kashmir for the last 140 days over the PM discarding the Article 370.