The affordable mobile service era is somehow coming to an end. Telecom companies are considering raising recharge charges once again this year. Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel, one of the country's leading telecom companies, informed this. He said tariff costs have to be increased to fund cost pressures and 5G services. Prices will rise again in 2022. He estimated that the prices will go up in the next 3-4 months. Companies will increase recharge prices considering the increase in customer base and competition in the market. He wants to increase the monthly amount of Rs 163 per customer to Rs 200. Airtel became the first company in November last year to raise its recharge price. Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio then took similar steps. As a result, the price of mobile recharge increased by 20-25%. Customers who were recharging Rs 600 for the three-month service now have to count up to Rs 750. The CEO of Vodafone Idea last month also said the recharge price was likely to go up.
Monthly income per customer of almost all companies improved after raising the recharge price last year. But there was also a bad effect. Airtel lost 6 lakh customers and Jio 85 lakh customers. The CEO of Airtel said customers who have multiple SIMs after the recharge becomes costlier are keeping as many SIMs as they can at their capacity and removing others. The trend will continue till March. He expressed hope that the number of customers will increase again from April. Telecom companies are making concerted efforts to launch 5G mobile services in the country. Companies do not want the situation to arise once again as Jio overturned the telecom industry by betting during 4G. So companies are funding the 5G spectrum auction slated to be held between May and June. The opportunity to get funds through loans has narrowed. Companies will try to fund the recharge burden on costumers. Currently only 3-4 per cent of smartphones in the country are useful for 5G. The share of such smartphones will increase by 10-12% by March. He said customers will widely use 5G services by 2023-24. The cost of telecom companies has gone up drastically as diesel prices have increased and network has to be expanded.
Please don't enter any spam link in the comment box.