‘Hope telcom tariff hike doesn’t roil data intake’

‘Hope telcom tariff hike doesn’t roil data intake’

AgenciesUpdated: Wednesday, December 11, 2019, 02:04 AM IST
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Star India chairman Uday Shankar |

New Delhi: On the heels of telecom tariffs going up steeply, Star India chairman Uday Shankar on Tuesday expressed hope data prices will not become "unaffordable" and that content consumption will keep growing.

Beginning this month, the three private telcos hiked tariffs for prepaid customers, which constitute a large majority of over 95 percent, by a steep 40 percent after holding the rates at rock bottom levels for nearly five years.

The move can help the bleeding operators to some extent in shoring up revenue.

"...data prices have come down from historical levels-- from a couple of dollars per GB to barely 2-3 cents a GB now. It is not going to go back to an unaffordable level," Shankar said confidently.

He was speaking to reporters after launching the consumption trends on its digital platform 'Hotstar', which revealed smaller centres are driving consumption on the back of cheap data.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry veteran who started off as a journalist, also went public with his disappointment with the new TV audience measurement under Broadcast Audience Research Council.

"One big limitation in the present measurement system is that it is still not doing justice to what is happening now--how people are consuming," he said, adding the issue is also about "data credibility".

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