After Jio, Bharti Airtel announces 10-21 pc hike in mobile tariffs
Vodafone Idea to raise mobile tariff by 11-24 pc from Jul 4
New Delhi, Jun 28: Bharti Airtel on Friday announced between 10-21 per cent hike in mobile tariffs, a day after larger rival Reliance Jio announced an increase in rates.
Airtel, in a release, said that the revision in mobile tariffs will be effective from July 3.
"We have ensured that there is a very modest price increase (less than 70 paise per day) on entry-level plans, in order to eliminate any burden on budget challenged consumers," the Sunil Mittal-led telecom firm said announcing the revision in mobile tariffs.
Bharti Airtel said it has maintained that the mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) needs to be upwards of Rs 300, to enable a financially healthy business model for telcos in India.
ALSO READ: Jio to raise mobile services rates by 12-27 pc from July 3, limits free 5G access
"We believe that this level of ARPU will enable the substantial investments required in network technology and spectrum and offer a modest return on capital," the telco said.
Among the unlimited voice plans, Airtel has raised tariffs in the ballpark range of about 11 per cent, and accordingly rates are revised from Rs 179 to Rs 199; from Rs 455 to Rs 509; and from Rs 1,799 to Rs 1,999. In the daily data plan category, the Rs 479 plan has been increased to Rs 579 (20.8 per cent increase).
The mobile tariff hike from mobile operators comes immediately after the 10th spectrum auction, which ended in just two days with muted response from the industry.
Loss-making telecom operator Vodafone Idea will raise mobile tariffs across the board by 11-24 per cent from July 4, according to a company statement.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will roll out increased mobile service rates from July 3 onward.
"In line with its commitment to provide its consumers with simple and comprehensive plans, Vi has curated an optimum range of feature-rich plans to meet the diverse needs of its consumers. Staying true to its philosophy of supporting entry-level users and progressively linking higher prices to increased usage, changes in entry-level plans are nominal," Vi said.
The company has raised the entry-level plan, minimum recharge value for 28 days of mobile service, by about 11 per cent to Rs 199 from Rs 179.
Vi has raised the price of a popular 84-day validity plan with 1.5 GB data per day to Rs 859 from Rs 719 earlier.
The company has increased the price of its annual unlimited plan by about 21 per cent to Rs 3,499 from 2,899 at present.
It has made no change in its 365 validity plan with a 24 GB data limit, which costs users Rs 1,799.
"Vi is planning significant investments over the next few quarters to further enhance the 4G experience as well as launch 5G services," the statement said.
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ISRO's NVS-02 satellite suffers setback, thrusters fail to fire
New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI): ISRO's attempts to place the NVS-02 satellite in the desired orbit suffered a setback after the thrusters on board the spacecraft failed to fire, the space agency said on Sunday.
The NVS-02 satellite, which was crucial for India's own space-based navigation system, was launched on January 29 on board the GSLV-Mk 2 rocket which was ISRO's 100th launch from the spaceport at Shriharikota.
"But the orbit raising operations towards positioning the satellite to the designated orbital slot could not be carried out as the valves for admitting the oxidizer to fire the thrusters for orbit raising did not open," the space agency said in an update to the GSLV-F15 mission on its website.
The satellite is orbiting the Earth in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) which is not suitable for the navigation system.
"The satellite systems are healthy and the satellite is currently in elliptical orbit. Alternate mission strategies for utilising the satellite for navigation in an elliptical orbit are being worked out," ISRO said.
After the GSLV rocket placed the satellite in the GTO, the solar panels on board the satellite were successfully deployed and power generation was nominal.
Communication with the ground station has been established, the space agency said.
The launch on board the GSLV was successful as all the stages performed flawlessly and the orbit was achieved with a high degree of precision.
