Airtel seeks shift to consumption-led pricing

Bharti Airtel‘s pricing interventions have begun to yield results, helping lift average revenue per user (Arpu) and mobile revenue growth in the September quarter, even as the company believes the telecom industry needs a more fundamental revision of its tariff structure to sustain monetisation of rising data consumption.

During the quarter, Airtel discontinued its Rs 299 prepaid plan as part of an August intervention aimed at moving customers up its pricing ladder. The company has since restored the plan with a lower daily data allowance, while management maintains that the August exercise was an initial pricing intervention and not a comprehensive correction of the industry’s pricing architecture.