Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular have raised prepaid tariffs by up to 20 per cent. This comes after Bharti airtel increased its tariffs by 20 per cent in six major circles, including New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Airtel had attributed the tariff hike to declining margins and high 3G and BWA spectrum prices. In a statement issued by the company, it said, “Telecom is probably the only industry where, despite increasing inflation, tariffs have been falling unabated. Continuously declining margins, high 3G and BWA auction prices, constrained spectrum and rural roll-out aspirations leave us with little choice but to make some price corrections.?
Meanwhile, other operators, like Uninor have said that they plan to watch how the situation develops further.
According to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bharti had over 167 million subscribers in May 2011, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular had 139 million and 93 million users respectively.
