New Delhi. Once again a huge burden of inflation is going to fall on the pockets of the common people. Major telecom companies of the country may drastically increase the rates of their mobile recharge plans by 12 to 15 percent in the next 4 to 5 months. This claim has been made in the latest report of brokerage firm Centrum Institutional Research. According to the report, market consolidation has occurred due to the presence of mainly 3 private players (Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea) and 1 government company (BSNL) in the Indian telecom market, due to which the environment has become very favorable for the companies to increase prices.
ARPU expected to jump in Q2FY27, Airtel leads If we look at the financial data of the telecom sector, in the second quarter of the current financial year (Q2FY27), the average revenue per user (ARPU) of all three major telecom operators—Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL)—is estimated to grow by 0.8% to 2.0% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). This revenue is getting a boost due to the rapid shift of customers from 2G to 4G/5G, increase in postpaid users and higher number of days in the quarter. According to the report, Bharti Airtel will continue to lead the entire industry with ARPU of Rs 269 per month, while Reliance Jio’s ARPU is expected to increase to Rs 218 and Vodafone Idea’s ARPU is expected to reach Rs 178 per month.
Mathematics of network expansion and increase in subscriber base According to Centrum report, Reliance Jio can add about 80 lakh (8 million) new subscribers in this quarter, taking its total user base to 54.1 crore (541 million). At the same time, Bharti Airtel’s Indian wireless subscribers are expected to increase by 30 lakh (3 million), taking the total number to 38 crore (380 million). On the other hand, Vodafone Idea (VIL), which is facing financial crisis, can also reach the figure of 19.4 crore (194 million) by adding about 10 lakh (1 million) new customers. Additionally, Jio and Airtel have already extended their 5G networks to more than 95% of the districts in the country, while VIL is offering 5G coverage in around 200 cities.
VIL’s Rs 45,000 crore capex plan and status of other companies Vodafone Idea is in the final stages of raising debt of Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) with banks for network coverage and 5G expansion, as part of its total capital expenditure (capex) plan of Rs 45,000 crore (Rs 450 billion) for FY27E-29E. Apart from the telecom giant, tower infrastructure company Indus Towers’ revenue is estimated to grow by 1.7% in the quarter and Tata Communications’ revenue is estimated to grow by 1.6% on the back of digital and data segments.