'Telecom rates to consolidate in medium term'

Telecom major Bharti Airtel foresees a consolidation of telecom rates in the next couple of years, as the business models of many new operators are not viable, it feels.

“I feel consolidation in terms of tariffs will happen in one to two years, which should lead to some stabilisation in the sector,” said Manoj Kohli, CEO and managing director, on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit.

The telecom major has had discussions with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the viability of business models of some operators who have entered the market recently. He elaborated on Bharti’s pilot scheme in collaboration with the State Bank of India for enabling mobile payments in parts of the country like Haryana and Bihar, and discussions with the Reserve Bank of India to finalise a full launch. “We are still in discussions with RBI and the indicative time line is around six months,” added Kohli.

He said the initiative will not be a revenue-driven exercise, but will be launched as a social effort . Bharti Airtel is also, he said, open to partnerships with other banks under the project, once the policy issues are sorted.