Mobile Recharge Plan Hike: For users of mid to high recharge mobile plans, this will be quite concerning. Major telecom companies in the country like Jio and Airtel are planning on increasing the tariff by 10 to 12 percent by the end of the year. The surge in mobile users in the month of May has given companies confidence that users are willing to spend more on expensive plans. Regardless, this increase will hurt all users, especially those who tend to overspend.Record active users in MayThis increase in tariffs isn’t arbitrary. In May 2025, India saw an addition of approximately 7.4 million new active mobile users which skyrocketed the total active users in the country to 1.08 billion. Reliance Jio alone added 5.5 million and Airtel 1.3 million users which bolstered the market share of both companies.The focus this time will be on mid and high usersTelecom operators seem to be going ahead with reducing prices by about 10 to 12%; however, this will not only be confined to base plans. During the last price hike in July 2024, the basic plans were priced up by 11 to 23 percent across the board. In order to mitigate the number of lost subscribers, companies will focus on mid and high range plan users to maximize revenue.To be targeted at the new recharge schemeNow companies can abandon the ‘one-size-fits-all’ paradigm. There is a consensus among analysts that plans based on data speed, usage per time slot, or even time of day, should be priced differently. For instance, lower data users or night-time users can be offered different pricing structures. As a result, customers will only purchase the plan that suits them.5G and ratesAs experts state, ET, the pace of customers accumulation in future will entirely depend on the 5G services and how well the quality of service is. Declining position of Vodafone Idea allows Airtel and Jio to capitalize and increase their share and earnings.BNP Paribas expects the telecom sector earnings to grow in the double digits from 2025 to 2027, which will be driven by an increase in tariffs and greater user adoption of bundled plans. Airtel MD Gopal Vittal also shares the view that there is a shift towards ‘personalized tariffs’ which provides flexibility in usage.The prospect of 5G comes with a cost, and while there is telecom company spending, the users are always looking to save more. These companies are focused on mid to high-tier earners, but there is a danger of losing them to rivals if pricing goes beyond reason.
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