Idea Cellular Mulls Hiking Data Charges

While a spokesperson did not reply to repeated queries in this regard, the company sources said there are plans to increase the price points for data in the next few weeks but the hike will vary from market to market and would depend on competition.

The company will continue to remain competitive in the circles it operate, they added.

For example, price of 1GB data for 30 days in Kolkata is Rs. 123 under a special scheme and this can be revised upward to around Rs. 150, sources said.

Idea continues to expand and strengthen its network and it recently announced its own 3G services in Kolkata on 2100MHz spectrum band, which was acquired through auction earlier this year.

The telecom operator last month said it has agreed to buy radio airwaves in two services areas from smaller rival Videocon Telecommunications for Rs. 3,310 crores ($499 million) to boost its high-speed data services.

The deal comes a month after the government allowed carriers to trade mobile airwaves, a move aimed at improving services in the world's second-biggest market by number of mobile customers.

India's increasingly congested airwaves have resulted in problems like calls getting cut in the middle of conversations and connectivity issues, even as more and more users hook on to the Internet from their phones and tablets.

Written with agency inputs