Airtel, Jio may soon withdraw unlimited 5G data plan, charge up to 10% more: Report

New Delhi: Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel might discontinue their unlimited 5G data plans for premium customers soon, media reports said on Saturday.

As per the analysts, the companies will likely charge at least 5-10 per cent more for 5G services compared to 4G, starting from the second half of 2024, Economic Times reported.

This move is aimed at increasing monetisation and boosting revenue growth.

The two telecom operators are also expected to raise mobile tariffs by at least 20 per cent in the September quarter of 2024 to improve their ROI (return on capital employed) of 5G infrastructure investments and customer acquisition costs, according to industry experts.

The other two telecom players Vodafone-Idea and government-owned BSNL are yet to introduce 5G services in the country.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel in partnership with Ericsson has successfully tested Ericsson's pre-commercial Reduced Capability (RedCap) software on the Airtel 5G network.

Carried out in collaboration with chip-maker Qualcomm using its 5G RedCap test module, the testing on the 5G TDD network represents the first implementation and validation of RedCap in India.

Ericsson RedCap is a new radio access network (RAN) software solution that creates new 5G use cases and enables more 5G connections from devices such as smartwatches, other wearables, industrial sensors and AR/VR devices, the company said.