Dot suggest telcos to take steps to up ARPUs via tariff hike

NEW DELHI : The Department of Telecom (DoT) has suggested telcos to take steps to improve their ARPUs (average revenue per user), which essentially translates into tariff hike.

A 15-20 per cent gradual hike has been suggested to partly tide over the current AGR fallout scenario. Airtel and Vodafone Idea have to pay ₹83,000 crore together for the AGR dues of 14 years.

The price per GB of data plummeted to ₹11.78 at the end of 2018 from ₹226 in 2015. Vodafone Idea’s ARPU in the second quarter was ₹107 and Airtel’s ₹128.

While the government has also taken credit many times for cheap data in the telecom sector, now under severe stress on account of AGR dues, huge debts and mounting losses, the telcos are looking to the government for relief in terms of cut in levies, increase in spectrum dues repayment period and moratorium.