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India’s cash strapped telcos are currently trading on wafer thin margins, with rumours abounding that Vodafone Idea could be teetering on the brink of insolvency
Mobile subscribers in India could be about to see their monthly tariffs skyrocket as all three of the country’s mobile network operators revealed plans to increase their prices in the coming weeks.
Earlier this week, both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea confirmed that they would be putting up prices in response to a recent Hight Court ruling that saddled the pair with $13bn of charges related to spectrum usage.
Yesterday, Reliance Jio also issued a statement saying that it too would be increasing prices for its customers. Jio said that its price increases would be structured in a way that “[does] not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments”, according to a report in The Statesman.
India remains one of the most competitive telecoms markets in the world, with ARPU hovering around $1.50. Operators are struggling to balance the enormous capital investment demands of 5G with the reality of doing business in such a financially challenging market.
India is the world’s second biggest mobile market place, with over 1.4 billion mobile connections.
