Telecom tariffs: Industry eyes 10–12% hike by year-end

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 Industry eyes 10–12% hike by year-end; mid-to-premium users may face sharper impact

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India’s telecom users may face another round of tariff hikes by the end of 2025, with prices expected to go up by 10–12 per cent, particularly for mid- and high-paying consumers.As per ET, industry executives and analysts suggest that the recent surge in active subscribers, including a record 7.4 million additions in May, has encouraged operators to consider revising rates again after the July 2024 hike.In May alone, the active subscriber base jumped to nearly 1.08 billion, the highest in 29 months, marking the fifth consecutive month of net additions. Reliance Jio led the gain with 5.5 million new users, boosting its active market share to 53 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, which added 1.3 million, closing the month with a 36 per cent share.An industry executive quoted by ET said that May’s surge was not just an acceptance of previous hikes, but also driven by the return of secondary SIM users tied to necessity services. He said, “Future active user additions will be a function of 5G expansion and its adoption.”According to brokerage Jefferies, with Vodafone Idea continuing to lose subscribers, Airtel and Jio stand to gain more market share and monetise further through higher tariffs. Experts now anticipate the next round of hikes to be more targeted. Instead of across-the-board increases like the 11–23 per cent base plan revision in July 2024, operators may adopt a tiered pricing model.

This could include reducing data limits in basic plans to nudge users toward higher-value packs.“There is a strong case for hiking prices primarily for middle and upper-band users,” a telecom analyst said, adding that any increase at the lower end could risk subscriber churn, as per ET.Analysts expect pricing to become more segmented, based on data usage patterns, data speeds, peak-hour access, or even for low-data consumers. BNP Paribas projected the sector’s revenue growth to remain in double digits during FY25–27, supported by these tariff revisions and a shift to bundled plans.Airtel MD Gopal Vittal has also called for an overhaul of the current pricing system, describing the one-size-fits-all model as “broken” during the company’s recent earnings call. Top executives from Vodafone Idea echoed the view, backing a new tariff structure better aligned with consumer usage and market realities.

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