FEVIN-RAJ 61 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 Telecom Companies to hike call tariffs by almost 100% In a blow to consumers, both Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular have increased their call tariff rates by nearly 100 per cent.While Bharti Airtel has doubled the call rates from Re 1 per minute to Rs 2 per minute, Idea has also gone for a steep hike from 1.2 paise persecond to 2 paise per second. According to ET Now, the substantial increase in rates indicates that pricing power has returned to the telecom sector, with incumbents likely to have more flexibility going forward.In a written reply to ET Now, Bharti Airtel said that the hike was inevitable and revision in rates is in line with increasing costs. "We have been reiterating that increase in prices is inevitable, which is reflected from the fact that despite rising costs, tariffs have been falling over the past 12 quarters," Bharti Airtel said in a statement. A source with direct knowledge separately told Reuters that Bharti Airtel is reducing free minutes by up to a quarter and has increased prices of some call vouchers for prepaid customers by Rs 5-15.The call price increase will be extended to all of 22 telecommunications zones in a phased manner, the source said, declining to be named.The plan to up call rates has been submitted with the telecom regulator TRAI. ET Now did not rule out the possibility of an intervention from TRAI on the same. With an aim to protect consumer interests, TRAI may intervene in the call rate hike decision, ET Now said. Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone hiked tariffs for 2G data services. Airtel revised its 1GB 2G data plan from Rs 100 to Rs 125. "This nominal price revision is subject to rate elasticity, customer demand and supporting cost structures. Our recent revision...is an increase of only 2-3 paise per MB. It continues to be an excellent value proposition for our customers," an Airtel spokesperson had said. Vodafone too has made similar changes in the monthly plans and has reduced data limits available under various prepaid plans. While the Rs 95 plan (28 days validity) is now available for Rs 124, others plans allowing 250 MB data usage and 150 MB usage have been reduced to 150 MB and 100MB, respectively Source http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/Bharti-Airtel-and-Idea-hike-call-tariffs-by-almost-100/articleshow/18144804.cms 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alliwant 5 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 They have already hiked the prices! Also they now take extra charges over 100 Text Messages. Now what they expect from us? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 AirHELL increasing base tariff in India is good for Africa... They shamelessly calls themselves as India's network... I too agree that TRAI will intervene for sure, if the suitcases given to them are NOT enough... Their MoU (Minutes of Usage) will get a severe beat in coming months (happened earlier)... 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raghav.cn 8 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 Nothing shocking, as expected. Airtel will be 1st in line for this monkey business 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raghav.cn 8 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 So far CDMA Players are better in Voice Plans/STV offers than their GSM counterparts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KAPILKDEV 68 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 Surely expected news after the 2G supreme court order, new entrants licenses are cancelled and service shut down, old players joined to a mafia, now the customers should suffer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
funky_ace 16 Report post Posted January 28, 2013 Will CDMA suffer from this hike too? I thought this whole 2G scam was related to GSM cause CDMA works on different frequency. I thought 2G scam was about the 850MHz/900MHz(whichever works in India) band. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
