You may have to pay more for your mobile bill
Your monthly mobile bill will soon cost you more. Seeing Reliance Jio hike the prices of its 4G tariff plans by 15-20% on October 19, other telecom service providers have also decided to revise their pricing plans in close competition. This comes as a relief to the telecom majors that were forced to cut down their tariffs to match Jio's disruptive rates and discounts.
Only three major players remain in the private telecom sector
The financial pressure created by Jio's bombastic entry last year has wiped out all the small fish from the sea of telecom service. According to the international rating firm Fitch, it just three sharks that remain Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and Jio. Thanks to the unprecedented consolidation, Fitch expects them to dominate the revenue market in 2018 with a combined share of around 90%.
Comparing Idea and Reliance Jio's revised rates
So which operator should you choose? Here we compare Jio and Idea's revised tariffs between Rs. 300-500 on prepaid connections. Jio has three plans at Rs. 309 (49 days validity), Rs. 399 (70 days) and Rs. 459 (84 days). All offer 1GB 4G data/day and unlimited calls. At Rs. 357, Idea is offering unlimited calls and 1GB data/day for 28 days.
Competitive pricing: Airtel and Vodafone also step up their game
In the same price bracket, Airtel is offering two plans to its prepaid customers. Rs. 448: 70 days validity at 1GB data/day. Unlimited calls up till 300 minutes/day and 1,200 minutes/week. 100 SMS/day. Rs. 495: 84 days validity at 1GB data/day. Unlimited calls. Meanwhile, Vodafone is offering unlimited calls and 1GB data/day for 28 days for Rs. 348.
Telecom industry to register growth in 2018
The telecom sector's declining revenue and margin trends are expected to reverse in 2018. Fitch cites several contributing factors for rapid rise in data consumption, higher blended tariffs, and Jio cutting down on promotional strategies, marking an end to the price war. The players are likely to witness revenue growth in single-digit percentage in 2018 with the average blended tariff increasing by 3-4%.
