Major Indian telecoms to raise charges

Two of India’s leading telecom providers will increase service charges effective today.

Barti Airtel and Reliance Jio’s price increases for both prepaid and post-paid plans will begin today. Under the new hike, the former will increase its prices by 10-21% while the latter will increase it by 12-25%. This is the first time both telecom giants have increased their prices since 2022. The hike is largely aimed to account for the cost of the 5G telecommunications infrastructure, where the acquisition and the rollout of 5G airwaves have cost the telecom companies around $18 billion.

According to the chairman of Reliance Industries, Akash Ambani, the price hikes were aimed to further industry innovation as well as drive sustainable growth through investments in 5G and AI technology.

Despite the industry wide tariff hikes, it is highly unlikely that consumers will cease their phone plans. This is largely due to the affordable plans provided by telecom providers like Jio aswell as the lack of alternatives available. While foreign companies like China’s Huawei and ZTE might have provided affordable alternatives, the Indian government’s decision to severely limit Chinese companies and their operations domestically leave consumers with little to no choice.