According to a report by ICICI Securities, India is no longer the cheapest market globally for telecom services, with Bangladesh and Egypt now offering lower base-plan tariffs.
The report noted that although India has moved up the affordability rankings, it still provides some of the most generous service allowances among peers, especially for voice.
In India, operators include unlimited voice calls even on base plans, while users in Bangladesh and Egypt receive only 100 and 70 minutes respectively.
It added that an extra Rs 100 in India buys 26 GB of additional data, about Rs 4 per GB, keeping India among the most data-affordable countries. Indonesia is the only other market with a base plan comparable to India; in most countries, base plans cost nearly twice as much.
On a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, India’s tariffs also remain among the most affordable globally. Versus China, India’s base plan is 21 per cent cheaper. However, China’s allowances for both voice and data are materially lower. The report further observed that if the same comparison were run on smartphone plans with higher data limits, India would look even more affordable.
On revenues, Indian telcos’ average revenue per user (ARPU), based on consumer spending, rose 13.5 per cent between financial year (2018-19) FY19 and FY25.
This increase has outpaced inflation and may not be sustainable in the near term. Over a 10-year period, however, ARPU has grown at a 3.4 per cent CAGR, still below inflation, despite industry consolidation.
