Voda Idea & Airtel to hike tariffs |
Indian Telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have said that they would increase tariffs in December, the first price hike in more than three years that could help shore up revenue and operating income for the two lossmaking telecom companies but also cause some subscribers to shift to rival Reliance Jio Infocomm. They didn`t declare the quantum of the hikes, which some analysts said could be as much as 30¬ to 45% in the near term and up to three times the current rates over the next two years. Jio, had recently started charging 6 paise a minute for calls made to a rival`s network and removed some low priced plans to improve its operating performance. Vodafone Idea, which was the first to announce the planned price hike on Monday, said the government had acknowledged the stress in the sector, weighed by debt of more than Rs 7 lakh crore and brutalised by the price wars since Jio`s entry. Sources from Vodafone Idea said, “Mobile data charges in India are by far the cheapest in the world… To ensure that its customers continue to enjoy world class digital experiences, Vodafone Idea will suitably increase the prices of its tariffs effective 1 December 2019.” The government, meanwhile, has set up a panel which is likely to suggest some relief measures for the telecom sector.
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