Vodafone Idea may increase tariff of data and voice services among all three major private telcom companies in India. The company's CEO Ravinder Takkar on Friday said the company will not shy away from bringing a tariff hike and will in fact set an example for others to follow. He told analysts that current prices are unsustainable. The industry in the short-term needs an average revenue per user or ARPU of Rs. 200 and Rs. 300 in due course, he said.
Earlier in the week, Bharti Airtel's CEO Gopal Vittal spoke on same subject and said the industry can no longer run with the current pricing for voice and data services. MOrever, he said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is considering setting up of a floor price for voice and data services. In this connection, the regulator recently met representatives of the three private telcom companies including Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone for discussing floor pricing such that overall financial health of the beleaguered industry can see an improvement.
Takkar said Vodafone Idea will continue its efforts on increasing its 4G customer base and provide a better user experience on the recently integrated network of the previous Vodafone Idea and Idea Cellular. The company's 4G users as of September 30 increased from 104.6 million in the preceding quarter to 106.1 million users. The company is largely confronting the AGR hazards and till now has cleared Rs. 7854 crore in AGR dues but still has to pay over Rs. 50000 crore to the department of telecommunications (DoT).
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