Indian telecom operators offer two kinds of mobile services - a) prepaid and b) postpaid. All the telcos get a major chunk of their revenues from the prepaid segment. However, none want to ignore their postpaid subscriber base, as these are the subscribers which are mostly loyal and pay a handsome amount of money every month. But much lately, the average revenue per user (ARPU) figure from the postpaid segment is falling for the telcos. At the same time, the prepaid ARPU is going up.
TRAI Report Highlights Falling Postpaid ARPU
According to the latest TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) report, the postpaid ARPU for the Indian telecom sector fell from Rs 200.56 in March 2022 quarter to Rs 197.55 in the June quarter of 2022. Note that back in 2021, telcos only implemented a tariff hike for prepaid plans and not the postpaid plans. The ARPU per month from prepaid for the sector grew from Rs 121.9 in the previous quarter to Rs 128.61 in the QE June 2022.
The telcos don't generally make changes to their postpaid offerings as much as they alter their prepaid plans. Postpaid segment customers prefer the highest quality of services in a seamless manner.
Vodafone Idea Recently Introduced New Postpaid Plans
Much recently, Vodafone Idea introduced new postpaid plans for customers. These new postpaid plans have been branded as Vi Max. For the unaware, Vodafone Idea also has the biggest postpaid subscriber base in the country. The lowering ARPU for the postpaid segment is not something Vodafone Idea would want. Since the telco just introduced new plans, it is unlikely that it would increase the tariffs for postpaid services right away.
All the telcos are currently focused on increasing the prices for prepaid services. The rise in tariffs would help the private operators as well as the state-run telco to sustain operations while aggressively investing in new technologies and innovations.
