In terms of tariffs, Vodafone Idea (Vi) has been following what Airtel does. Vi wanted the tariff hikes even more badly than Airtel; however, the cash-strapped telco couldn’t have done that without Airtel or Jio leading the way. Vi would have lost its subscriber market share very steeply, which is already the lowest amongst the private telcos. However, since now Airtel has already moved ahead with tariff hikes, we can see the same movement from Vodafone Idea.
Vodafone Idea Had Earlier Followed Airtel in Increasing Tariffs
Vodafone Idea had also removed its base Rs 49 plan from the offering when Airtel did so. Both the telcos were offering the same Rs 79 base plans to the users. Note that Vi’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is the lowest amongst the private operators. So while Vi might go for a tariff hike soon, it might keep its plans slightly more affordable than what Airtel is offering. This would be the right way for Vi to attract Airtel customers aggressively while increasing its ARPU at the same time. If you want to check out the new prepaid tariffs from Bharti Airtel, kindly click here. Vodafone Idea shares have already risen on Monday morning on the anticipated tariff hikes and ARPU increase. Vi wouldn’t want to wait a long time as it wants its ARPU to improve quickly. Vodafone Idea already offers some of the best-prepaid plans in the market. A 10% to 15% tariff hike might mean that it can take a higher ground than Airtel in the medium to long term. As of now, there’s no saying when Jio will increase tariffs. As far as Jio is concerned, it would be a fair assumption that Jio won’t go for tariff hikes right away as it wants to improve its subscriber market share even further. Airtel’s subscriber churn rate is expected to increase in the third quarter of FY22.
