Airtel CEO hopes Indian Govt will support to have 3 pvt players in telecom

Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal 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”.

He also 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.

Vittal said while Airtel is “disappointed” with the outcome, the company has provisioned for the onerous payout and already paid over Rs 18,000 crore covering its obligations for the first few years. He commented this on the Supreme Court dismissing applications by telcos for recalculation of AGR-related dues.

“I think just from a national perspective, it would be appropriate to see an industry structure where three players not just survive, but thrive and of course the government player is always there. I feel as a country we do need three players... it is a large enough country with 1.3 billion people, which can easily accommodate three (private) players in this market,” Vittal said.

Flagging the “extremely low” ARPU in the Indian telecom market, Vittal said that the level needs to rise to Rs 200 and eventually Rs 300. If ARPU rises, the industry repair can "certainly happen", he noted.

Having three private players in the telecom market would be an "appropriate outcome" for a country as large as India, he said, adding that substantial investments have already been infused by the industry.