TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar forecasted that the mobile tariffs will rise by a 8-9% every year and the telecom operators might also squash the special discounted tariffs. In an interview with ET Now he said that government should accelerate the process of allowing new spectrums for high speed access.
Mr. Khullar also added that even if the base tariff is Rs 1.2/min the net revenue realized by the industry is just around 45 paise. He said “So, what you should be ready to see is some marginal rise in the effective call rates. You won’t feel the pinch of the tariff as operators would be clawing back the freebies.
This translates into a steep decline when it comes to free SMSes and the Bonus Talktime. The Internet packs may not take the hit.
Going further Khullar also warned that any moves to increase the headline tariffs won’t go well. “What we don’t expect is a rise in the headline tariffs, the authority will surely look into the matter and, depending upon the case, might intervene,” said the Chairman.
Khullar also pointed out at the quarterly results of the telecom operators and said that the industry has again started to grow and also expressed a dire need to keep the momentum going. Khullar requested the Telecom department to facilitate availability of more spectrums and at the same time roll out a new pro industry policy on the issues of Spectrum Auction, Trading and generic consolidation.
In 2014 we have noticed considerable amount of hike in both voice and broadband sectors. These frequent hikes will eventually make the consumers bear the brunt and this might also lead to a more cautioned usage from the consumers end leading to a decrease in the Volume of calls.
