Bharti Airtel intends to raise mobile call and data rates, says chairman

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, announced plans to raise mobile phone call and data rates across all plans this year.

Last month, the company raised the price of its minimum recharge, or the entry-level for the 28-day mobile phone service plan, by about 57% to 155 in eight circles.

In response to a question about the need for a tariff increase when the company’s balance sheet is strong, he claimed that the telecom industry has a very low return on investment and that a rate rise is anticipated this year.


“It (tariff walk) will happen across the board”, Mittal said on Monday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. He stated that the company has injected a large amount of capital, which has strengthened the balance sheet, but the industry’s return on capital is very low.

When asked about the impact of price increases on people at the bottom of the pyramid, he said the increase is minor in comparison to what people spend their money on.



The company discontinued its 99 minimum recharge plan, which included 200 MB of data and calls at 2.5 paise per second. While Airtel’s short-term ARPU target is 200, it is focusing on a medium to long-term ARPU target of 300 through price increases for sustainable operations.

According to Mittal, India’s emphasis on the economy and infrastructure is paying rich dividends to the companies. When asked about the impact of inflation and the global macroeconomic situation on the company, Mittal stated that India is moving at a breakneck pace.

When asked about the monetisation of the 5G network, he stated that the company's primary focus is on network rollout, and that monetisation will occur once the network base is complete. The company now has approximately 100 million 2G customers, but Mittal stated that the company will not discontinue 2G services until the customer base has migrated to 4G or 5G.

FAQs:

1. Who is the CEO of Bharti Airtel?
   Gopal Vittal
2. Who is the founder of Bharti Airtel?
   Sunil Bharti Mittal