Tariff hike dials Rs 20k-cr moolah for telecos

New Delhi: The latest round of 15-20 per cent mobile tariff hikes for prepaid and postpaid plans by telecom service providers (TSPs) can result in additional operating profits of around Rs20,000 crore for the industry once these hikes are fully absorbed, industry experts said on Friday.

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are likely to witness a significant average revenue per user (ARPU) benefit after the tariff hike. Vodafone Idea is yet to implement the mobile tariff hike. “This will result in increased profit generation, thereby providing headroom for the industry to undertake deleveraging as well as fund capex for the technology upgrade as well as network expansion,” said Ankit Jain, Vice-President and Sector Head of Corporate Ratings, ICRA.