Jio, Airtel likely to charge up to 10% more for 5G

In a bid to monetize and boost revenue growth, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are likely to withdraw their unlimited 5G data plans for premium customers. It is expected that they are going to charge at least 5-10% more for 5G services, compared to 4G, from the second half of 2024. The two telecom operators may raise mobile tariffs by at least 20% in the September quarter of 2024 to improve their RoCE (return on capital employed) amid intensive investments on 5G and higher customer acquisition costs.  

For nearly a year, Jio and Airtel have been offering 5G services at 4G rates. This coupled with unlimited data offerings, both the telecom companies have been luring existing users to upgrade to the next-gen wireless broadband service. Analysts expect this to change with both Jio and Airtel poised to roll out 5G services nationwide and prioritise monetisation once adoption levels increase. 

"With rising focus on monetisation and 5G coverage near completion, we believe the telcos may stop offering unlimited 5G data to their higher-ARPU data customers and announce 5G-specific plans towards 2HCY24," global brokerage Jefferies said in a research note. 

It further added that while the absolute price-points for Airtel and Jio's 5G plans may be 5-10% higher than 4G, the operators may bundle 30-40% additional data in such plans to spur adoption and drive market share gains at the expense of cash-strapped Vodafone Idea (Vi), which is yet to launch 5G services.