Tariff hike to depend on largest telco: Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal believes India will be an important player in cutting-edge 5G technology but wants pricing to be investor-friendly. In a conversation with Business Standard, Mittal spoke about the urgent need to raise mobile tariffs, the industry’s interest in upcoming 4G spectrum auction, the company’s stand on 5G and the government move to bar Chinese equipment vendors in telecom.

When asked about Airtel’s plans to raise tariffs, Mittal said: “it will depend on the biggest player”. At present, Reliance Jio, with over 400 million mobile subscribers, is the largest telco in the country, having beaten the long-time market leader Airtel. Jio’s wireless market share is more than 35 per cent against Airtel’s 28 per cent, according to the latest data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).