Airtel to Raise Entry-level Tariff from Rs. 99 to Rs. 155 to All Its Circles
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With the latest entry-level tariffs raised to ₹155 by Bharti Airtel Ltd from earlier ₹99 for 18 out of its 22 telecom circles, the Sunil Mittal-promoted organization may extend the same tariff for the rest of the circles as well, according to an industry executive who wished to stay anonymous. The executive also opined that it is only a matter of time before the firm applies the hiked tariff for all the circles. The telecom coverage in India is split into 22 circles so as to align with the boundaries of states.
On 21 November, Bharti Airtel Ltd hiked the tariff for entry-level to ₹155 in Haryana and Odisha, followed by the North-east, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh-west, and Andhra Pradesh on 24 November. Then a day later, the same was applied to Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh-east, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and West Bengal.
An Airtel spokesperson responded by saying that the step is to provide customers with a better experience. Thus, they have done away with the metered tariff and offered a new entry-level plan of ₹155. It comes with features such as 300 SMS, 1GB of data, and unlimited voice, so the customers will encounter no constraints while using this plan. The plan intends to offer superior value, greater convenience, and flexibility.
An Airtel executive also said that they had expected a higher amount of SIM consolidation or level of churn after the introduction of the plan, but that has not been so. Yet, the company aims to roll the new entry-level tariff to other circles after assessing the results. They believe that customers will adapt to the plan because of unlimited calling, higher data usage, and larger benefits in contrast to the previous tariff of ₹99.
After launching the hiked entry-level tariff, in November the telecom saw 200,000 and 100,000 active subscribers for Odisha and Haryana circles. But in the preceding months from May to October, Haryana’s customer base saw a loss of 300,000, while Odisha’s customer base grew by 70,000. The telecoms have raised the plan rates by 20-25% in November, and the effect is from the correction of rates for the base plans. The move, for now, seems to have generated a favorable number of subscribers for Bharti Airtel Ltd.
