Airtel Revises Mobile Tariffs After Lukewarm Spectrum Auction; Yearly Plan Price Rises By 20% From ₹2,999 To ₹3,599

After the second 5G spectrum, that ended with the sale of 141.4 MHz spectrum for Rs 11,341 crore.

These auctions were largely deemed low-key, as the shortest auction shows a muted response from major telcos.

Airtel Revises Tariffs

In fact, only 12 per cent of the centre's reserve price of Rs 96,238 crore was bagged by the companies. Bharti Airtel acquired spectrum worth Rs 6,857 crore and Vodafone Idea spent Rs 3,510.4 crore.

Amidst this development, after this actionless auction, the telcos appeared to be en route to what was on the horizon. After Reliance Jio, the lowest spender at the auction with Rs 973.62 crore, launched its 'new' 5G plans, Airtel has also released its new revised plans for its existing 4G plans as well.

Airtel increased the price of its basic voice call plan from Rs 179 to Rs 199 for a period of 28 days, increasing by 11 per cent. Among its daily data plans, the 28-day, 1GB daily plan also saw a rise from Rs 265 to Rs 299.

Maintaining The ARPU

The daily 28-day, 3GB plan also saw a rise in its price from Rs 399 to Rs 449. When it comes to the yearly plan, the prices have been increased by over 20 per cent, from the previous Rs 2,999 to Rs 3,599.

In a statement, the company said, "Bharti Airtel ('Airtel') has maintained that the mobile Average Revenue per User (ARPU) needs to be upwards of INR 300, to enable a financially healthy business model for Telcos in India."

"We believe that this level of ARPU will enable the substantial investments required in network technology and spectrum and offer a modest return on capital. In this light, we welcome the announcements in the industry to repair tariffs."

The revised plan will kick in on July 3, 2024.

The shares of Bharti Airtel are trading in red. The share prices declined by 1.06 per cent or Rs 15.70, taking the cumulative value of individual share to Rs 1,460.10. In addition, Bharti Hexacom also observed a steep decline of 4.68 per cent or Rs 55.45, taking the value to Rs 1,129.95 per share.