Telecom companies may increase tariffs again by the end of this year.
The surge in active mobile subscribers is likely driving operators to consider another round of price increases.
Telecom companies may roll out tiered pricing strategies.
If you think your mobile bill has already gone up a lot, there’s more to come. Telecom companies may increase tariffs again by the end of this year, this time by around 10-12 per cent, especially for users who pay for mid or high-tier plans. The surge in active mobile subscribers is likely the reason driving operators to consider another round of price increases, reports ET.
SurveyIn May alone, India added 7.4 million active mobile users, taking the total active subscriber base close to 1.08 billion. This was the fifth month in a row with net user additions. Reliance Jio led the charge by adding 5.5 million users, raising its active user share to 53 percent, followed by Bharti Airtel, which added 1.3 million, reaching a 36 percent share.
“The recent record pace of active subscribers additions in May is not just due to the general acceptance of past tariff hikes, but when the necessities-linked secondary SIMs return to the system,” an industry executive was quoted as saying in the report.
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Future tariff hikes won’t be across the board. Instead, telecom companies may roll out tiered pricing strategies. This means users could face varying charges based on data usage, speed or time of use.
“It is likely that tariffs go up 10–12%… Future hikes are also unlikely to be uniform across all customer segments. There is a strong case for hiking prices primarily for middle and upper-band users,” said a telecom analyst. Meanwhile, in a recent earnings call, Airtel MD Gopal Vittal said that the current tariff structure is broken, with a 1-size-fits-all pricing model which is not appropriate for user upgradation.
As telecom operators are likely preparing for another potential tariff hike, consumers may need to brace for steeper mobile bills. This means staying informed and choosing plans wisely will be more important than ever.
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Ayushi Jain
Ayushi works as Chief Copy Editor at Digit, covering everything from breaking tech news to in-depth smartphone reviews. Prior to Digit, she was part of the editorial team at IANS. View Full Profile
