India's telecom price wars between the three major operators - Airtel, Jio and Vodafone-Idea has resulted in profitability challenges. With the onset of 5G operations in the country, the only way these operators can generate higher revenue is by increasing costs for the consumer. Now, Airtel appears to have set the ball rolling with across-the-board hikes in its prepaid plans.
One of the major reasons behind increasing the price of plans is that Airtel wants a higher average revenue per user (ARPU). As of now, Airtel gains Rs 153 per user and is aiming to reach Rs 200 with the current surge in prices.
The cheapest plan offered by Airtel is available at Rs 99 for a period of 28 days. The price of the plan has been increased by 25%. This plan also excludes the facility of text messaging. In case you need 'SMS' then you can opt for the Rs 179 plan and above.
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New prices of popular Airtel plans
In a statement from Airtel, the company has provided details of the new plans and upgrades that it has on offer. The Rs 219 plan offering 1GB data per day and unlimited calling and 100 SMS per day is now available at a price of Rs 265. The Rs 598 plan with 84 days validity, 1.5GB data per day, unlimited calling, and 100 SMS per day is now available for Rs 719.
Some plans like the ones that are used to top-up data packs are now costlier by 20%. Airtel officials have stated that the increase in price was necessary to scale up the connectivity solutions. New prices of all the Airtel plans will be applicable from November 26.
Since Airtel has now set the ball rolling, it is expected that others like Jio and Vodafone-Idea may follow suit.
A few months ago, both Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea) increased the prices of family centric plans and a few postpaid plans. CEO at Vi, Ravinder Takkar, has already announced that the prices of prepaid plans are going to increase soon.
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