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Technology desk: In the coming months, people may have to spend more money for mobile recharge. Airtel has started this by removing some of its cheap prepaid plans. The company has discontinued some low cost recharge plans including Rs 299. After this, some customers may have to choose higher priced plans.

Analysts believe that the country's telecom companies are continuously spending money on 5G networks. In such a situation, companies can increase tariffs further to maintain their earnings and investment. It is estimated that the next big tariff increase could be 10 to 15 percent.

Airtel removed many plans including Rs 299

Airtel has discontinued some of its low-cost prepaid plans. These also include a plan of Rs 299.

According to Morgan Stanley, after the removal of the Rs 299 plan, some customers may move to the next available plan of Rs 349. This simply means that such customers may have to spend Rs 50 more on every recharge.

If a customer recharges every month, his annual expenditure will also increase.

Which plans were affected?

Apart from Rs 299, Airtel has also removed some other plans. These are said to include selected plans of Rs 319, Rs 579, Rs 619 and Rs 649.

The removal of these plans may have a greater impact on those customers who look for low-cost recharge options.

However, it is not necessary that the recharge expenses of all customers will increase immediately. The impact will depend on which plan the customer was using earlier and what option is available to him now.

Now keep an eye on Jio and Vi

After Airtel, now everyone's eyes are on Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi). Both companies currently have plans available around Rs 299.

If Jio and Vi continue with their cheap plans, some customers looking for low-cost recharge may move to these companies.

This opportunity is considered important especially for Vodafone Idea, because the company has been trying to increase its subscriber base for a long time.

Vi has two options

According to analysts, Vodafone Idea currently has two options.

First, like Airtel, it should remove low cost plans and move customers towards expensive plans. This can increase the company's earnings per customer.

Second, Vi can continue with its cheap plans and attract customers who want low-cost mobile services.

If Vi continues to offer cheaper plans, some customers who left Airtel may switch to Vi. This can help the company increase its market share.

Vi's earnings may also increase

According to JM Financial's estimates, if Vodafone Idea also changes its tariffs, the company's earnings per customer may increase by about Rs 7 to 8, i.e. about 4 percent.

At the same time, if the company maintains cheap plans now, it may get a chance to add new customers before the next big tariff increase.

Vi can especially benefit from those users who are currently using its SIM only as a secondary number. On getting a cheap plan, such customers can change their Vi number into primary SIM.

Airtel's earnings per customer are expected to increase

According to Morgan Stanley, about 20 to 30 percent of mobile subscribers in India were earlier using plans priced below Rs 349.

If some of these customers shift to the Rs 349 plan, Airtel's average monthly earnings per customer could increase by around Rs 8 to Rs 12.

However, different brokerage companies have given different estimates regarding this increase.

Citi estimates that Airtel's earnings per customer may increase by about Rs 4 per month.

At the same time, if about 10 percent customers shift to a Rs 50 costlier plan, then Airtel's earnings per customer can increase by about Rs 5 to Rs 6.

Tariffs have increased three times since 2019

India's major telecom companies have increased mobile tariffs three times since 2019. Despite this, companies continue to spend on 5G network expansion and other network infrastructure.

Analysts believe that companies may need to increase tariffs again in the future to balance their investment and profits.

According to IIFL Capital, another tariff hike may be seen by the end of 2026.

Analysts have estimated the next increase to be around 10 to 15 percent. However, it will depend on the decisions of the companies and market conditions.

Airtel has the highest ARPU

ARPU i.e. Average Revenue Per User is an important figure to understand the earnings of telecom companies. This shows how much the company earns on average from one customer.

According to the given data, ARPU of Airtel is Rs 264. It was earlier Rs 250. The company's global subscriber base is said to be around 48.7 crores.

Jio's ARPU is Rs 215.6, which was earlier Rs 214. Jio's subscriber base is around 53.3 crore.

ARPU of Vodafone Idea is Rs 177, which was earlier Rs 174. At the same time, the subscriber base of the company continues to decline.

ARPU of BSNL is Rs 101. Earlier it was Rs 71. That means it has increased by about 42 percent.

It is worth noting that the ARPU figures of Airtel, Jio and Vi are for March-June FY27, while the figures of BSNL are for the entire FY26.

What could be the impact on customers?

If telecom companies further remove their cheap plans or increase tariffs, then the monthly expenses of customers using mobile services in low budget may increase.

At the same time, if Jio or Vi continue with cheap plans, customers will still have low-cost options. This may also increase competition among telecom companies for low cost customers.

At present, after the removal of cheap plans by Airtel, the market is eyeing the next step of Jio and Vi.

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