Saving Indian telecom

The recent tariff increases by telecom operators will improve their earnings, enabling them to invest in better network infrastructure and step up service quality

Hyper competition in the telecom sector over the past several years has caused a steep decline in average revenue per user (ARPU). With rapid consolidation (the Indian market at one time had more than 10 operators, but now only four big players remain) and the resulting intensification of competition, ARPUs nosedived to record lows. In fact, industry ARPU has declined by almost 48 per cent in the last 10 years — from Rs 141 in 2009-10 to Rs 73 in 2018-19.
 
The absolute decline in ARPU is even starker if we consider inflation, which has been a constant companion