India needs 3 pvt players in telecom; hope govt offers support: Airtel CEO

Amid Vodafone Idea’s struggle to stay afloat, Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal on Wednesday asserted that a large nation like India needs three private players in telecom, and hoped the government would take measures to offer relief to the financially-stressed industry.

Vittal said the recent changes effected by Airtel in some of its plans is a step towards raising average revenue per user (ARPU), which is currently “abysmally low”.

At the same time, he indicated that the company, which already has a premium positioning in the market, may not initiate a broader tariff revision unilaterally and risk any erosion of customers and competitiveness.