There is a possibility that the charges of the mobile plans might be given a hike soon. And by hike, we mean that the prices of internet data will be as high as Rs. 100 per GB.
This has been confirmed by none other than Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal.
Find out what he has to say right here!
Mittal Hints At An Increase In Internet Charges: Rs. 100 Will Be Charged Per GB Data
The Chairman of Airtel, one of the leading telecom providers, Sunil Mittal has dropped hints about an increase in the charges of mobile plans in the next six months. He opined that offering data at low rates is not very feasible for telecom companies.
He went on to recommend that customers should pay Rs. 100 for each GB of data. Instead of getting 16 GB data for Rs. 160, people should only get 1.6 GB. As per Mittal, paying only Rs. 160 for 16 GB data is a ‘tragedy’.
As of now, Airtel offers 1 GB data per day for Rs. 199, with 24 days of validity. This means that Airtel charges a bit more than Rs. 8 per GB.
Mittal states, “You either consume 1.6 GB of capacity per month either at this price point or you may prepare to pay a lot more. We are not wanting USD 50-60 like the US or Europe but certainly USD 2 for 16 GB a month is not sustainable.”
Airtels’ ARPU Rs. 157; Mittal States 300 ARPU Needed To Make Industry Sustainable
He also talked about the average revenue per user (ARPU), saying that Airtel will probably cross Rs. 200 in six months through digital content consumption. ARPU is a metric that analyzes the revenue garnered by any telecom company.
In the first quarter that ended on June 30, Airtel observed an increase of Rs. 157 in the ARPU which followed the hike in recharge plans of Airtel in December 2019.
At the launch of a book written by Bharti Enterprises executive Akhil Gupta, Mittal said, “We need a Rs 300 ARPU in which you will still have lower end at Rs 100 a month with decent amount of data.” He added that if the customer’s consumption is about watching TV, movies, entertainment, and depriving other vital special services networks, then they need to pay for that.
There are only 2-3 players in the Indian market now, and the market in India is very price conscious. In 6 months, Mittal has estimated that they will cross the Rs. 200 mark for sure, but Rs. 250 would be an ideal ARPU.
He has also said that the businesses that are not working in the telecom sector should also go digital and record good ARPUs building up in the next 5-6 months. This will make the industry sustainable.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
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