This July, the telcos had finally mustered up the courage to hike tariffs after a 30-month wait. Airtel and Vi announced a 21 percent hike, while Jio raised them by 12-25 percent. The subscriber churn has not stopped ever since. India’s mobile service market has lost 16.81 million connections since July. RJio, Airtel, and Vi have lost 23.07 million subscribers in Q2 FY25. Meanwhile, BSNL, having stayed away from any increase, saw its fortunes rise with 6.3 million new mobile customers, albeit estimated to be low-income generating subscribers.
The tariff hike, despite 5G services at 4G prices, is influencing the pace of adoption of 5G. It is expected that the telcos may be forced to return to the pre-tariff-hike status in this highly cost-sensitive market. And the next round of tariff hikes, though necessary to inch closer to the international levels, looks unlikely.
