After Airtel and Vodafone shared their plans to hike the tariff rates, Reliance Jio has unexpectedly announced that it will also increase the tariff prices. That also means that the unprecedented consolidation in the telecom industry is going to end soon.
Citing media reports, the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio said that "Like other operators, we will also work with the government and comply with the regulatory regime to strengthen the industry to benefit Indian consumers and take measures including appropriate increase in tariffs in next few weeks in a manner that does not adversely impact data consumption or growth in digital adoption and sustains investments."
The announcement comes a day after Vodafone and Airtel said they would increase the tariff prices from December 1. However, none of them divulge the exact details about the prices.
Apart from that, Jio directed on its rivals who still offers 2G network in India, the former called upon the telecom regulator to mandate "2G mukt" policy, in order to achieve the objectives of Digital India. Notably, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are offering 2G services in India for their feature phone users.
This is second time in two months Jio has made such a big announcement, related to prices. Earlier, the company started charging 6 paise per minute for calls to other networks. But later on, Jio came up with many affordable plans. So that it can retain its customers.
To recall, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have cut prices since Jio's launched its operations in the country. But still, the incumbents are struggling to compete with the new operator, as the latter is offering plans at very affordable prices.
Furthermore, Reliance Jio is offering 4G VoLTE in 22 circles. Vodafone Idea is still working on network integration. Both Airtel and Vodafone Idea is still offering 2G services. On the other hand, Jio is only focusing on providing the 4G network in the country.