Telecom Operators Could Hike Mobile Tariff Again as Active Subscribers Saw Sharp Growth: Report

Telecom operators in India could reportedly increase mobile tariffs by the end of the ongoing year. As per the report, the increase in pricing could go as high as 10 to 12 percent, however, companies might take a tiered approach this year. The new approach will reportedly be taken as Indian telecom operators raised base prices by 11 to 23 percent in July 2024, and another hike could make the mobile recharge plans too expensive. Notably, the reason behind the planned hike is said to be strong active subscriber growth in the month of May.

Mobile Tariffs Could Be Hiked Again in 2025

According to an ET Telecom report, Indian telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea, could impose fresh hikes on mobile tariffs as soon as the end of this year. The increase is said to be between 10-12 percent, and the companies might target users purchasing the mid-to-high priced recharge plans. To the woe of subscribers, the new hike could reportedly be implemented just 18 months after the previous hike.

As per the report, operators are focusing on a tiered approach to avoid active subscribers porting to a different telecom network provider. The main reason behind another price rise is said to be the strong growth of active subscribers in May. In the 31 days, the Indian telecom space witnessed a surge of 7.4 million active subscribers, marking a 29-month record. The surge also took the total active subscriber count to 1.08 billion.

"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," the publication cited an unnamed industry executive as saying.

The companies are reportedly not considering hiking the prices of the lower recharge plans as there is a fear of attrition. However, companies are said to hold the belief that increasing prices in the mid-to-high recharge plans could end up consolidating the user base, instead of pushing them to look for alternatives.

While there are no details available on how companies are looking to categorise different tiers, it is said that some of the considerations could be around data usage, data speed, and even “specific timings of high data usage.”