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Airtel calls India telecom pricing model broken as ARPU growth stalls and change plan accelerates
Economy
Published on 14 May 2026
Airtel says unlimited data plans cap revenue far lower
Bharti Airtel’s management is unhappy with sluggish ARPU growth, calling India’s telecom pricing architecture “broken.” In Q4, ARPU edged up just ₹3 sequentially to ₹257, with two missing days and factors like West Asia-driven impact on international roaming. Airtel argues unlimited data plans limit revenue yields to roughly ₹340–350. It plans to push higher post-paid penetration, encourage data upgrades with 5G and handset migration, and invest more in fibre broadband and new “adjacencies” like data centres and financial services.
- ARPU rose only ₹3 in Q4 to ₹257, up just 0.6% sequentially
- Management cited two missing days and West Asia crisis affecting roaming
- Airtel says unlimited plans cap revenue yields around ₹340–350
- Proposed fix: usage-based tiered allowances from small to extra-large
- Strategy includes boosting post-paid share and data consumption upgrades
- Investments: fibre infra plus 5G SA readiness and new adjacencies
Read the full story at The Economic Times
This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on 
The Economic Times