Airtel, Jio, Vi Can Increase Voice, Data Tariff For All Users, Yet Again: Experts Are Saying This..

Another set of tariff hikes is soon to be announced by Telecom operators as they are looking to improve their average revenue per user (Arpu) by weeding out low-paying, inactive subscribers. 

Tariff Hike In Horizon

It seems that the earlier apprehension regarding hiking tariffs has gone.

As despite the hikes undertaken in December 2021, the active subscriber base of the industry has risen in the last few months.

Basically, the operators have lost low-end customers, which were mostly inactive. 

Actually, they had more than one or two connections.

So, by weeding out inactive customers from the network, Reliance Jio, for instance, has increased the percentage of its active subscribers. 

Which has reached an all-time high of 94% at February-end. 

Other Operators Will Follow Through

According to the Telecom sector analysts, Bharti Airtel is focusing on increasing its Arpu further. 

Similarly, Jio is improving the profile of subscribers on its network.

It is expected that the outlook would remain strong even after another round of tariff hike.

With this move, Bharti Airtel plans to reach an Arpu of `200 this year. 

By the end of December, the telco had reported an Arpu of Rs 163. 

At the same time, Vodafone Idea has been vocal about increasing the Arpu for the telecom industry. 

So far, the company has not shared any specific number.

 Tariff Hikes Affecting Wireless Subscribers

For the past two months, the telecom industry has been losing wireless subscribers on a net basis due to the tariff hikes.

Interestingly, the active subscriber count has been increasing. 

This simply indicates that the paying customers are rising.

 And why not as telecom is considered as an essential service.

According to another analyst, though the hikes may not happen in the immediate term as the impact of the last round of hikes is yet to fully reflect, but after a few months, after the spectrum auctions, telecom operators may look at raising rates as they need to improve profitability. 

Further adding, “If 5G has to become successful in the country, Arpu has to rise further. With the current levels of Arpu, there is no business case for any mobile operators to roll out 5G,”.