Bharti Airtel has expressed hope that the government will offer immediate relief to the telecom sector to ensure that India continues to be a market with at least three private players.
During the company’s earnings call for the quarter ended June 2021, Gopal Vittal, chief executive officer (CEO), Bharti Airtel, expressed his discontent over the Supreme Court ruling denying operators any relief on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
Further, Vittal reiterated the need for a reduction in the base price of the 5G spectrum and stated that the company is open to monetising its stake in Airtel Payments Bank (APB) to raise additional resources.
He said that Airtel’s move to tweak tariffs for prepaid and postpaid services is a ‘small step’ in the direction to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) to Rs 200 and eventually to Rs 300.
Further, he said that ARPUs in India are extremely low and at the current level the company’s return on capital is in low single-digit.
