As per industry sources, Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) might announce another hike in mobile services rates, most probably during 2022, subject to the market reaction to the increase in tariff that the company made in November 2021. The operator believes that the minimum price of Rs 99 set by the company during the revision of tariff regime is not an expensive proposition for subscribers using 4G services.
Meanwhile, as per the latest reports, Vi’s subscriber base declined to 247.2 million from 269.8 million in the year-ago period because of increase in services rate by the company. Its average revenue per user (ARPU), on the other hand, declined by about 5 per cent to Rs 115, compared to Rs 121 in the same quarter of 2020-21.
In addition, the operator reported widening of its consolidated loss to Rs 72.31 billion for the third quarter (Q3) ended December 2021. Lately, the operator opted to pay interest of around Rs 160 billion through preferential share. This move by the operator has resulted in government holding 35.8 per cent stake in the company.
