Higher tariffs likely to offset fall in telcos’ revenues

KOLKATA: The price increases by telcos in December will likely more than offset revenue dips caused by any resultant reduction of voice and data services during the January-March quarter, analysts and industry experts said.

The telcos are likely to report around 10% on-quarter growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) – a key performance metric – in the fourth quarter, when the major impact of the tariff hikes is expected to take effect, they said. Bharti AirtelNSE 0.82 %, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio Infocomm increased their bundled tariffs 14-33% in early December for the first time after a three-year hiatus.